WATCH: Rep. Kiley slams HHS for 'forcing' mask mandates on 2-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Rep. Kiley slams HHS for 'forcing' mask mandates on 2-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic

GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley questioned HHS Secretary Becerra on if there were any health benefits to requiring kids as young as two to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., harangued Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra Tuesday on why the government forced 2-year-olds to wear masks without evidence of public health benefits.

During a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing Tuesday, titled "Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)," Kiley shared his concerns over why young children were required to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic and demanded to know if "forcing 2-year-olds to wear masks save[d] lives?"

Without directly answering the question, Becerra responded that "making sure people were masked when it was appropriate was essential to making sure we were able to get out of this pandemic."

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Students in kindergarten were required to wear masks in California. (Paul Bersebach/Getty Images)

"Can you answer the question I asked?" Kiley again pressed the secretary.

When Becerra did not say if there were any public health benefits to the child mask mandate, Kiley turned up the heat and accused him of avoiding the question.

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"I'm not asking you to rephrase my question to some abstract question you'd rather answer. I'm asking you, as secretary of Health and Human Services, right now can you point to any specific evidence that there was a public health benefit to forcing young children to wear masks?" Kiley said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra testified before the House committee on June 13, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch)

The Republican congressman also asked why HHS policy did not align with "the international norm" that did not require young kids to wear masks. Becerra again did not directly answer the question.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, HHS policy required children as young as 2 to wear masks, even when outdoors. 

Many American kids in a variety of states had to endure mask mandates throughout the pandemic. (Getty Images)

Kiley, who represents California's 3rd Congressional District, lived in one of the most highly restricted states during the pandemic, where the HHS policy was greatly enforced statewide and preschoolers were told to wear masks.

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While most states no longer enforce COVID-19 health mandates, the HHS website, last updated in February 2023, still states that masking helps prevent the spread of COVID among "children under 2 who cannot wear masks."