Cruz Slammed for Trying to Block D.C.'s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Students

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Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was harshly criticized for attempting to block Washington, D.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who is D.C.’s delegate in Congress, said Cruz’s effort “crosses the line.”

“He crosses the line, and I must tell you does so often, when he meddles in the business of another member of Congress,” Norton told The Dallas Morning News.

“The notion of inserting himself into an issue involving the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students is particularly serious when you consider the repercussions, particularly for young children,” she added.

Norton noted that Cruz has often championed local control of local businesses, concluding that she did not expect Cruz would get involved in the matter in D.C.

“It is a congressional matter on which you would not expect a member like Ted Cruz to be involved in, as he is among the members who insist upon support of local control for local businesses and doesn’t want the Congress, House or Senate involved in his own business,” Norton said.

Norton’s comments come after Cruz announced he would introduce legislation that seeks to overturn D.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for school children.

“These mandates, we’re seeing them all over the place. You know, we’re seeing them in schools. It is amazing how many Democrats are willing to try to force parents to get their kid vaccinated,” Cruz said in an interview with conservative pundit Ben Shapiro. “I’ll tell you, the District of Columbia—the school board—voted to force every child in D.C. to get vaccinated. I’m introducing this week legislation in the Senate to reverse that order. Under the Constitution, the District of Columbia is under the authority of Congress.”

“The school board has no right to force you to get your five-year-old vaccinated,” he added. If you want to vaccinate your kid, vaccinate your kid. But if you don’t want to, who are these petty authoritarians trying to make this decision for you? And sadly, it’s a pattern we’re seeing across the board.”

Last month, the D.C. Council voted to require eligible District school students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a response to a surge of cases nationwide that have been attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The legislation also requires early child care educators to be vaccinated by March 1.