Republican Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) voted on Tuesday to keep the federal mask mandates for toddlers as young as two years old, reports Jordan Boyd in The Federalist. Romney voted no to lifting mask and jab mandates in the federal Head Start program.

From Republican Rand Paul (Kentucky):

Really, what we’re doing is just punishing children. The rest of America is insulted by you telling them that their kids who are not at risk from dying from this disease, are not spreading it, that somehow we’re going to force these kids to keep wearing masks. It’s unscientific, it’s inhumane and it stunting their learning.

The Amendment Ultimately Failed

Even though swing Republicans such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted to unmask the children, Romney crossed the aisle and helped doom two-year-olds to wearing face coverings even though most adults in cities, schools, and workplaces don’t have to any longer.