As the COVID-19 Omicron variant surges in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr announced Tuesday that the state has filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s Head Start vaccine and masking mandate.
The mandate, issued Nov. 29 by the Administration for Children and Families, outlines new performance standards for the Head Start program. It would require all Head Start staff, contractors working directly with children and volunteers to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 31, 2022.
“This is just the latest and most egregious in a growing list of overreaches by this President,” Kemp said in a press release. “It is all the more troubling and inexcusable, given this mandate directly impacts and impairs our children. As with our prior lawsuits against the administration’s unwarranted and inappropriate decisions, we will not rest in this fight to protect the rights and choices of Georgia’s families, especially when it comes to our youngest citizens. We will not allow these policies to invade our classrooms, teaching the wrong lessons about the role of government to growing minds.”
This is the fourth lawsuit Kemp has filed against the Biden administration concerning vaccine mandates. The governor also sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council in July over their city-wide mask mandate; he dropped the suit in August.
“After taking unprecedented action to impose three reckless mandates on our nation’s workforce, the Biden administration has doubled down on its efforts and is now targeting our state’s youngest learners,” Attorney General Carr said. “The federal government is attempting to force Georgia families to choose between two equally problematic outcomes – either give up their right to make their own healthcare decisions or risk their child’s education. This unlawful power grab is merely the latest example of a disturbing pattern emerging in this administration, and we will continue to fight back to protect our state and our citizens.”
Georgia is one of 24 states that have joined the suit led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.
