>The federal government has no jurisdiction over education.

It's possible that GP was referring to the current federal government in general re: Covid-19, not specifically their jurisdiction over education. And in that sense they're correct: the current leadership in the US is a disaster and "worse than useless".

It's the same deal tho - the federal government has no jurisdiction over the healthcare system either. The Obamacare, if you recall, in large part hinged on a "tax" created just for this purpose because taxation is the purview of the fed, which was a hack.

And even if Trump issued a "mask mandate" on the first day, for example, who is to enforce it? The FBI?

Yes, it's not written into law that the federal government has the specific power to drag kids back into classrooms and arrest people not wearing masks.

Do you think they have no levers to pull to affect policy from a federal level other than physically forcing people to do things? I'm not really sure what your point is.

It has no jurisdiction, but certainly has influence using strongarm financial tactics.