Topline
Twenty-one Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Biden Administration in an attempt to end the mask mandate on airplanes and public transportation, which they argue is unnecessary and amounts to federal overreach.
Key Facts
Airplanes, airports and public transportation are among the last places where the public is still required to wear masks.
The mandate was set to expire on March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration announced earlier this month it was extending the requirement through April 18 based on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are among the defendants named in the suit.
Florida is the lead plaintiff and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the litigation at a news conference Tuesday.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The White House referred Forbes’ request for comment to a TSA statement issued March 10, which said any future “revised framework will be based on the Covid-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data and the latest science.”
Crucial Quote
“If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked,” DeSantis said.
Key Background
The suit largely argues the mandate is a federal violation of state “sovereignty” since states and localities are left to enforce the mandate on buses and other forms of public transit, while numerous Republican governors have enacted bans on mask requirements. The filing also comes less than a week after a group of major airline CEOs, including the heads of Delta, American Airlines and Southwest, published an open letter calling for President Joe Biden to end the mask mandate for planes. The company heads claimed the “realities of the current epidemiological environment” make mask mandates no longer necessary.
Tangent
The CDC announced Tuesday the highly transmissible BA.2 omicron variant of coronavirus is now the dominant cause of Covid-19 cases in the United States. The variant is also the leading cause of Covid-19 cases worldwide, though Dr. Anthony Fauci recently told the Washington Post the strain’s emergence in the U.S. is unlikely to cause a “major surge.”
Further Reading
Mask Mandate On Airplanes, Public Transportation Extended Until April 18 (Forbes)
U.S. airline CEOs call on President Biden to end the federal mask mandate on planes (NPR)
BA.2 Omicron Variant Becomes Dominant In U.S., CDC Says (Forbes)
