Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra defended a policy requiring 2-year-olds to wear masks as a condition to participate in a low-income financial assistance program. The Head Start program is an HHS initiative that manages a series of facilities across the United States providing education, nutrition, and parental engagement services for…

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra defended a policy requiring 2-year-olds to wear masks as a condition to participate in a low-income financial assistance program. The Head Start program is an HHS initiative that manages a series of facilities across the United States providing education, nutrition, and parental engagement services for…

President Joe Biden’s administration did not have the authority to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on workers and volunteers in a federal childcare program, a U.S. judge has ruled. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) forced Head Start workers, and some volunteers, to get a COVID-19 vaccine starting in early 2022. Head Start provides…

Dr. Anthony Fauci dismissed shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic as collateral damage while speaking at an event on Wednesday. Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president, blamed “divisiveness in society” and people on social media for creating an “understandable confusion” about his guidance during the pandemic. He went on to justify the harsh COVID-19…

The mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandate imposed on the federal Head Start program was struck down on Sept. 21 by a U.S. judge who said the mandate is clearly outside the power of the agency that promulgated and enforced it. “The Court finds the Agency Defendants have exceeded their authority by implementing the Head Start…

A federal program called Head Start that serves hundreds of thousands of young children will soon stop requiring masks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, which runs the program, announced on Sept. 16 that it is planning to publish a rule that will rescind its mask mandate. “This…

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has taken aim at the Biden administration for continuing to require children and staff members to wear masks in federally funded Head Start programs. Moody, a Republican, made the comments in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program on Saturday. “When I heard that young children as young as…

The Biden administration mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates for the Head Start program have been blocked in additional 24 states by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump nominee, granted a preliminary injunction on Jan. 1 to Georgia and 23 other states against the mandates. Doughty said he thinks the government lacks…

President Joe Biden’s administration was ordered late Friday to stop mask and vaccine mandates for workers and volunteers of the Head Start program in Texas. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) likely acted without congressional authorization when it imposed the mandates in response to the president’s push to increase COVID-19 vaccinations, U.S. District Judge…

Attorneys general (AG) from 24 states have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates for early education staff, and mask mandates for young children. Led by Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, the lawsuit (pdf) argues that the mandates involving Head Start, the country’s largest early education program, are unlawful, and exceed President…