Cotton warns new CDC vaccine schedule including COVID-19 jab could lead to school vaccine mandates

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.

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"The CDC’s modification of the vaccine schedule is irresponsible given the low mortality rates of adolescents with COVID-19 and the unknown long-term side effects of the vaccine," Cotton said.

"I fear their recommendation [will] be used to justify a vaccine mandate in schools across the country," Cotton continued. "The GAO’s ruling will help put every member of Congress on record about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for children."

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."

"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."

"This usually takes a week or so," he said.

The CDC's vaccine schedule is not a hard requirement, but a recommendation that the majority of schools use when setting their vaccination policies.

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a piece of legislation from the 1990s that grants Congress the power to overturn federal rules established by the executive branch via the rulemaking process.

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.

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Should the GAO determine that the CDC's new vaccination schedule falls under the federal rulemaking process, the rule's fate would fall into the hands of Congress.

This means that, if the vaccine schedule is deemed a rule, Cotton and other lawmakers who disagree with the vaccine schedule could use congressional authority to strike it down.