Rubio, Thune, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Protect Toddlers From Mask Mandates

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Republican colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to rescind an interim final rule (IFR) that places one-size-fits-all federal mandates on Head Start programs across the nation. Included in the IFR is a universal masking requirement for all individuals in a Head Start facility above the age of two, including staff, volunteers, and children. The IFR also requires toddlers to wear masks while they are outside on the playground, and it mandates staff and volunteers to be vaccinated by January 31, 2022.

"Layering inflexible federal mandates onto individual Head Start programs that are experiencing varying COVID-19 transmission levels and that are already complying with guidance from their state and local public health officials, in our view, does not make sense," the senator wrote. "In addition, this IFR could potentially create conflicts with mandates already established by state and local governments or their prohibition of such mandates."

Rubio, Thune, and colleagues recently introduced the Preventing Mandates on Toddlers Act, bicameral legislation which would prohibit HHS from implementing or enforcing this IFR.

Click here for a full list of signatures.

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