Republicans are fighting back.
In a bid to prevent the District of Columbia from enforcing a vaccine mandate for K-12th grade students, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX.) introduced a joint resolution on Thursday (January 20).
The resolution –– co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Mike Lee (R-UT) –– would apply the Home Rule Act –– passed in 1973 –– to enable Congress to direct city governance in D.C.
Speaking on the matter, Cruz took to Twitter to express his views on D.C.’s vaccine mandate for school-age kids. In the tweet, the Republican Senator emphasized that government should not “be able to force COVID vaccines on children” regardless of whether it was a “federal agency, state governor’s mansion, or city council.”
He continued his post, saying children should not be threatened to have their right to education taken away “for not complying,” before stressing that “COVID policies should be based on science and common sense, not the hysterical demands of radical liberal activists and union bosses.”
Supporting Cruz’s remarks, Senator Blackburn criticized D.C.’s mayor and Democrats in a statement that encouraged D.C. schools to replicate what her home state of Tennessee was doing. “Muriel Bowser and the rest of the Democrat party have proven they are willing to do anything to keep kids out of the classroom.” She continued her statement saying that the COVID vaccine mandates were never about science; rather, they were “about big government controlling your life.”
Speaking on the matter in an interview with Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire, Senator Cruz pointed out that the D.C. “school board has no right to force you to get your five year old vaccinated,” adding that under the Constitution, “the District of Columbia is under the authority of Congress.”
The vaccine mandate for K to 12th-grade learners, announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser, is set to come into effect on March 1. This follows the District of Columbia instituting a vaccine mandate requiring patrons over the age of 12 to produce proof of at least one vaccine dose to enter indoor establishments like restaurants, indoor gyms, movie theaters, and conferences. This mandate came into effect on January 15, with February 15 being the date patrons would need to have two doses of the vaccine.
