By Aaron Miller-
The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it will appeal a federal judge’s decision striking down the Centers for Disease Control and Protection’s mask mandate for public transportation is pointless.
The U.S government said it would appeal the ruling if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines the mandate is still needed to protect public health, but made no comment about examining the court’s basis for the strike down, as well as the CDCP’s basis for determining it still useful.
Last month, governors from 21 states sued the Biden administration to end the federal public transportation mask mandate, arguing that the continued enforcement “harms the states” and interferes with some local laws.
The filing came days after airline CEOs called on President Biden to drop the mandate.
“President Biden’s shortsighted, heavy-handed and unlawful travel policies are frustrating travelers and causing chaos on public transportation,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who is leading the states’ effort, said in a statement. “It’s long past time to alleviate some of the pressure on travelers and those working in the travel industry by immediately ending Biden’s unlawful public transportation mandates.”
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the federal mask mandate for airplanes and other modes of public transportation on Monday, writing in a 59-page ruling that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its authority and failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures.
Before the Justice Department’s announcement Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed frustration with the court’s ruling. It was a blow to the White house, which has long been a strong supporter of mask mandates and covid lockdown rules.
“Public health decisions shouldn’t be made by the courts. They should be made by public health experts,” White House Press Secretary said Psaki said.
The flaw in Psaki’s view is apparent, given the entitlement of courts to make any ruling concerning any type of decision made by a governing body, if the governing body’s ruling is improper or exceeds its authority.
Following the ruling, airlines immediately announced that it was optional for passengers to wear face masks aboard their aircraft.
Some major transit systems, including New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are to keep requirements in place for the time being.
The mask-wearing requirement was imposed in early 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden took office, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
HEALTH
Last week, the CDC extended the rules, which had been set to expire on April 18, through May 3, with the hope of allowing officials to take more time to study the BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19 which has been driving up case counts across the country.
“We do have upward trends of infections. CDC is responding to the data, and it’s implementing the measure it has the authority to do,” said James Hodge, a public health law professor at Arizona State University in an interview with NPR.
In her ruling, Mizelle argued that the mandate violates the Administrative Procedure Act, as the agency failed to prove its decision regarding implementing the mandate.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs and the Health Freedom Defense Fund.
“The court concludes that the mask mandate exceeds the CDC’s statutory authority and violates the procedures required for agency rulemaking under the APA,” the judge wrote.
Just last week, the CDC extended the transportation mask mandate (which had been set to expire originally on April 18) through May 3 — allowing officials to take more time to study the BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19.