Trump Signs Order Barring Federal Funding to Schools With COVID Vaccine Mandates

Trump campaigned on not giving ‘one penny to any school that has a [COVID] vaccine mandate or a mask mandate.’

President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright (L) and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (R), signs an executive order on halting federal funds for schools and universities that impose coronavirus vaccine mandates in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 14, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Feb. 14 signed an executive order barring funding to universities and schools with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The order, detailed in a fact sheet provided by the White House, will prohibit all federal funding to any schools that implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates and directs the secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services to issue compliance guidelines and plans to end existing mandates. The secretaries will also create a report of non-compliant institutions and a process for blocking funds from supporting any that impose mandates.