A Florida judge has struck down the ongoing federal mask mandate for public transportation, including air travel.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled Monday in Tampa that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exceeded their statutory authority, improperly failed to justify their decision and “did not follow proper rulemaking.”
The Detriot News reports:
The CDC recently extended the mask mandate, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.
The mask requirement for travelers was the target of months of lobbying from the airlines, which sought to kill it. The carriers argued that effective air filters on modern planes make transmission of the virus during a flight highly unlikely. Republicans in Congress also fought to kill the mandate.
Critics have seized on the fact that states have rolled back rules requiring masks in restaurants, stores and other indoor settings, and yet COVID-19 cases have fallen sharply since the omicron variant peaked in mid-January.
An appeal seems likely. Nonetheless, Mizelle's decision comes as a severe blow to the CDC's authority as the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that the CDC exceeded the scope of its authority with its nationwide eviction moratorium.
