President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order halting federal funds for schools that require students to be vaccinated against coronavirus before they can attend classes in person.
Trump’s administration has already taken steps to end coronavirus vaccine requirements at the federal level, including for green card applicants, and reinstated service members who were discharged for refusing the vaccine.
A White House aide said during the signing that Friday’s order prohibits federal funding for schools with Covid vaccine mandates.
“They want to clear that up, the discrepancy,” Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office.
The president was joined by members of his Cabinet, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying that the decision to vaccinate should be up to a student’s parents.
The order was first reported by Breitbart News.
Currently, Covid vaccines are no longer required in K-12 schools across the country, according to two nonprofit health policy research organizations, Immunize.org and the National Academy for State Health Policy.
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to strip funding for schools that require vaccines and masks for students and said he would not allow schools to impose Covid mandates.
Trump’s proposal sparked concerns at the time about funding for schools in states that require most students to be immunized from diseases like measles and polio. A Trump spokesperson clarified that he was referring to Covid vaccines.
Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is among the most high-profile vaccine critics, urging greater scrutiny of vaccines as part of an effort that allies refer to as “vaccine safety.” Critics view Kennedy as anti-vaccine.
Kennedy was sworn in this week with a promise to address a chronic disease epidemic and after overcoming resistance from some members of Congress by vowing to maintain vaccine access for Americans.
In his first interview after being sworn in, Kennedy reiterated his pledge but said he intends to more closely monitor vaccine side effects.
Trump took questions in the Oval Office and signed another executive order to establish a new energy council, as members of his Cabinet stood beside him to voice support for the move, which he said aims to ramp up domestic oil and gas production.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said the moves demonstrated an effort to end “the nanny state,” adding that excessive regulations slow down U.S. energy production.
Trump also touted a pipeline that he said would bring down prices in New York and elsewhere.
He also said he had agreed to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom he said asked to visit in the coming weeks.
Asked about a speech Friday by Vice President JD Vance in Europe that drew alarm after he touched on migration and freedom of speech, Trump praised it as a “very good speech, actually very brilliant.”
On the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, the president said the outcome is hinging on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid uncertainty over the truce.
“It depends on what Bibi’s going to do,” Trump told reporters. “Hamas has totally changed and wants to release hostages. I said, ‘Good, you have until 12 p.m. on Saturday.’ Then they said they will release the hostages.”
Megan Shannon contributed.