Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs introduced a bill on Monday that takes aim at federal mandates for mask-wearing and any potential federal vaccine mandate.
“No Federal funds may be obligated or expended to propose, establish, implement, or enforce, directly or indirectly through the imposition of a condition on receipt of Federal funds, any requirement that an individual wear a mask or other face covering, or be vaccinated, to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the bill, which was provided to the Washington Examiner, states. There is an exception “with respect to an individual in a health care setting.”
Biggs is chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a conservative firebrand who helped lead objections to the Electoral College results based on voter fraud and election integrity concerns. He has called on No. 3 House Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming to resign in response to her support for impeaching then-President Donald Trump.
“Over the last year, Americans have grown angry and frustrated as state and local governments around our nation, working closely with state and federal bureaucrats, have destroyed freedoms and stoked fear and panic to gain control over COVID-19,” Biggs said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “While COVID-19 is real and serious, and there are those in our population who should take precautions, government has continuously overstepped its constitutional bounds. The federal government has a duty to ensure that organizations and industries taking federal funds are not being used to create or sustain any tyrannical mandates from state and local governments. Americans should value and protect freedom and personal responsibility.”
The bill is unlikely to pass a Democratic-controlled House, but it takes direct aim at a masking executive order that President Biden signed on his first day in office last week. Biden’s order mandates the use of face coverings on federal property, and through the Department of Health and Human Services, it encourages state and local governments as well as private industries to implement mandatory masking policies.
Freshman Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican who has already gained a reputation as a pro-Second Amendment firebrand, last week introduced a related bill, the “No Mask Mandates Act,” saying that no one on federal property or “traveling in interstate commerce” could be required to wear a mask.
On the issue of vaccines, Biden said in December that he does not believe that taking a coronavirus vaccine should be federally mandated for the public. But he added: “I’ll do everything in my power as president of the United States to encourage people to do the right thing and, when they do it, demonstrate that it matters.”
It is likely that some local governments and private institutions require vaccines, though. And certain federal institutions, such as the National Institutes of Health, may require vaccination for employees and contractors.
