WASHINGTON — Several Democratic governors are moving to ease some indoor mask mandates, skipping ahead of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Biden administration, which continue to urge Americans to wear masks indoors regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted her state’s indoor mask mandate for businesses this week, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is ending the requirement that students and school employees wear masks. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he is relaxing his state’s universal mask mandate next week. Other Democratic-led states are following suit, just as a federal free mask program is in full swing.
The urgency of state officials to ease guidelines reflects recent polling showing growing frustration with the Biden administration’s pandemic response and the electorate’s broader impatience after two years of shifting public health guidelines. With November’s midterm elections looming, some Democratic officeholders aren’t waiting for the president, the CDC or scientific consensus as they take steps to neutralize a potential campaign liability that Republicans have already seized upon.
