FIRST ON FOX: Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton worries that schools might mandate children receive the COVID-19 vaccine after the Biden administration’s new guidelines, and he is seeking to know whether Congress can do anything to stop it.
Cotton sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro Tuesday calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new vaccine schedule for kids and teens.
The CDC changed the vaccine schedule in February to recommend COVID-19 vaccine vaccine doses for children as young as 6 months old. If determined to be part of the federal rulemaking process, Congress could overturn the new shot schedule.
The Arkansas senator called the change in the CDC schedule “irresponsible” and warned the change could be used to back vaccine mandates in schools.
In his letter, Cotton brought up the Feb. 10 change to the CDC’s vaccine schedule for children and adolescents, and noted the action will modify the schedule “to recommend a 2- or 3-series COVID-19 vaccination for children older than 6 months, among other things.”
The CDC changed the vaccine schedule in February to recommend COVID-19 vaccine doses for children as young as 6 months old. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“I am requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis to determine whether this action qualifies as an official ‘rule’ for purposes of the Congressional Review Act,” Cotton continued.
Chuck Young, a spokesperson for GAO, told Fox News Digital that Cotton’s letter was received and that from “here it goes through a regular review process before any decisions are made.”
The Arkansas senator called the change in the CDC schedule “irresponsible” and warned the change could be used to back vaccine mandates in schools. (iStock)
The federal rulemaking process gives executive agencies — such as the ATF or Treasury Department — broader authority to set policies that normally would come out of the legislative process.
However, the process does come with several hoops to jump through. The agency cannot go beyond the scope of its congressionally-granted authority or outside the Constitution, the proposed or final rule must go through the public review process, and the agency must publish a statement of rulemaking authority in the Federal Register.
Additionally, under the CRA, the agency pushing the rule must submit a report to both chambers of Congress and the comptroller general that contains a copy of the proposed rule.
