The White House stuck to mask-wearing during President Biden’s trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday even though federal officials are no longer enforcing a mandate on commercial airline passengers.
Mr. Biden wore a black mask as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for his flight to Portsmouth, where he will promote the bipartisan infrastructure law.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises mask-wearing on public transportation but the Transportation Security Administration is no longer enforcing a mandate that requires it.
“During transit on today’s trip, masking will be required in line with CDC guidance,” the White House said of the president’s flight.
A federal judge on Monday struck down the transportation mask mandate, which was supposed to remain in effect until at least May 3.
The administration is deciding whether to appeal the ruling or leave it alone and allow individuals to decide how to protect themselves against COVID-19.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration feels confident in its authority to impose the transportation mandate. She said it may take the Department of Justice a few days to decide how it will proceed.
“Public health decisions shouldn’t be made by the courts. They should be made by the public health experts,” Ms. Psaki said.
The horse might be out of the barn.
Major airlines and transit systems across the country said masks would be optional because of the court order.
The decisions drew cheers from pandemic-weary passengers who are sick of masks and jeers from persons who worry that the BA.2 variant will cause another surge.
Ms. Psaki said she saw videos of people on planes celebrating and ripping off their masks after flight attendants announced the rule change late Monday.
Yet she said “anecdotes are not data.”
“Certainly that does tell a part of the story, but we don’t make these decisions based on politics or the political whims on a plane or even in a poll,” Ms. Psaki said.
She said there are still a lot of people who want to have masks in place because they have immunocompromised relatives, kids under age 5 who are ineligible for vaccines, or “whatever it may be.”
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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