21 states sue Biden to end mask-wearing orders
Twenty-one US states have filed a lawsuit in recent days, seeking an immediate end to a federal mandate that requires people to wear masks when traveling on planes, buses, subways and other public transportation.
The effort, in mostly Republican-led states, is the latest effort to scrap mandatory mask-wearing, which began in February 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden took office. This mandate was recently extended.
The lawsuit states that “in the face of a government that shows open contempt for the limits of its power, particularly when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, plaintiffs are seeking to revoke the mask’s mandate and issue a permanent injunction against its implementation.”
The suit identified the plaintiffs, who are the leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.
And in recent weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its mask-wearing guidance, as states have largely abandoned requirements to do so in public. The requirement to wear a mask on transportation is one of the most prominent federal orders related to the pandemic that is still in effect.
Pressure to end the orders has gained momentum in recent days, including from groups that previously supported this demand. Last week, executives from 10 airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines, sent a letter to Biden urging him to end pandemic travel policies, including mask-wearing orders.
This month, the American Public Transportation Association also sent a letter to the White House encouraging the administration to reassess its mask-wearing policy.
The new 30-page lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Central District of Florida calls the mandate “arbitrary and capricious” and criticizes the Biden administration’s rationale as “unpersuasive.”
The lawsuit argues that this requirement interfered with states’ power to make their own rules and that it forced states to expend resources to enforce it or face fines. The lawsuit also argues that the CDC failed to find “fewer alternatives” when this requirement was enforced.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should have considered the types of transmission that are most likely to contribute to interstate transmission,” the lawsuit said. Instead, the CDC treats buses that take young children to daycare settings and interstate trips as if they pose the same risk of spreading COVID-19 across state lines.”
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that the agency would not comment on the aforementioned lawsuit. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Announcing the extension of mask-wearing orders through April 18, the Biden administration said the CDC will work with the Transportation Security Administration to determine changes that need to be made to implementing these measures.
The 21 states that filed the lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Children under two years of age and people with certain disabilities are exempt from the requirement to wear a mask.
Laurie Aratani
She writes about transportation issues for the Washington Post.
Published by special arrangement with the “Washington Post and Bloomberg News CIOs” service.
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