Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended its public transportation mask mandate. Despite the extension, on Monday, news broke that a federal judge in Florida struck down the mandate that's been in effect for 14 months, calling it "unlawful." The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed in 2021 by two plaintiffs and the Health Freedom Defense Fund, which has a history of challenging mandates during the pandemic.
This means that the federal order is no longer in effect, and citizens are no longer required to wear masks on public transportation — at least, according to federal guidelines. (Local laws and businesses' individual rules can supersede that.) In airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will, until further notice, no longer enforce the mask mandate.
