COVID crackdown: Republicans seek to defund universities still requiring vaccine
FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers will put forward a bill Monday to put the force of law behind President Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting federal funds from going to colleges that still mandate a coronavirus vaccine jab.
Reps. Mark Messmer, R-Ind., and August Pfluger, R-Texas, will file the No Vaccine Mandates in Higher Education Act, chiefly noting that former President Joe Biden ended the official national emergency for COVID-19 in April 2023.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Pfluger said the pandemic "opened Pandora's Box to a lengthy list of overreaching policies and mandates from the government, institutions, and companies alike."
"As we work to restore common sense and liberties back to the American people, I am proud to co-lead this legislation to ensure universities can no longer force their students to have the COVID-19 vaccine," he said.
The bill reads that "no federal funds may be made available to any institution of higher education that requires its students or staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of enrollment or employment, or receiving any benefit, service, or contract."
In February, Trump wrote critically that some institutions are "conditioning their education" based on undergoing the COVID jab.
"Parents and young adults should be empowered with accurate data regarding the remote risks of serious illness associated with COVID-19 for children and young adults, as well as how those risks can be mitigated through various measures, and left free to make their own decisions accordingly," Trump wrote in his order.
"Given the incredibly low risk of serious COVID-19 illness for children and young adults, threatening to shut them out of an education is an intolerable infringement on personal freedom. Such mandates usurp parental authority and burden students of many faiths."
A February survey by Best Colleges listed 15 schools nationwide, particularly in California, Georgia and Pennsylvania, still had their COVID vaccine requirements intact.
During the federal coronavirus emergency, some universities, including Columbia in New York City, required not only the COVID-19 vaccine, but the ensuing boosters as well for at least some portions of their student population.
In Columbia's case, proof of booster doses were required for study-abroad students, according to a 2022 notice from the Ivy League institution.
Princeton University in New Jersey required boosters for its 2022 on-campus semester.
"Compliance with the vaccine policy is necessary to maintain prox access to campus facilities and to continue student progress to degree," a statement from that semester read.
Weekly PCR testing for COVID-19 was also mandatory for a time at Cornell University in upstate New York.
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