Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Sunday did not rule out the possibility that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be involved in school vaccination policy.
She stressed, however, that President Trump’s recent executive order to begin dismantling the Education Department focuses on rerouting funding for children with disabilities to HHS — not on addressing school vaccination policies.
“That’s a little bit outside of looking at making sure that we have funding for children with disabilities,” McMahon said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when asked whether Kennedy would be involved in vaccination of children at schools.
“So that’s a no?” CNN’s Dana Bash pressed.
“That’s not necessarily a no,” McMahon responded. “I’m just saying that, right now, the Department of Education, through the funding for children with disabilities, is not controlling vaccinations and that sort of thing in states.”
Trump announced Friday he is shifting programs for students with disabilities to HHS as he seeks to wind down and eventually eliminate the Education Department.
“Bobby Kennedy, with the Health and Human Services Department, will be handling special needs and all the nutrition programs and everything else,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
The announcement came a day after Trump signed an executive order for McMahon to dismantle the Education Department as much as is legally allowed.
While the department can’t be completely eliminated without an act of Congress, the Trump administration has made it clear it will seek to abolish any congressionally mandated programs and move any of those to other federal agencies.