DOJ appeals mask mandate order for public transportation

The Biden administration has formally appealed its federal mask mandate to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn a lower court’s ruling that vacated the mask requirement for public transportation, which was aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.

The Justice Department asked a three-judge panel to hear oral arguments in an attempt to reinstate the mask order — potentially at a later date.

“Masks isolate the disease itself by trapping viral particles exhaled by infected travelers and preventing non-infected travelers from inhaling viral particles,” the DOJ’s brief read. “The CDC’s statutory authority explicitly encompasses ’sanitation’ measures and ’other’ similar measures and — as the district court recognized — a mask is a conventional sanitation measure.”

It’s been more than a month since a federal judge in Florida voided the masking requirement in April.

Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee, had ruled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority and did not justify the mask requirement for public transportation systems.

She said the agency ran afoul of federal law because it did not adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act when issuing the mask order.

“Because ’our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends,’ the court declares unlawful and vacates the mask mandate,” Judge Mizelle wrote in the 59-page order.

The lawsuit was originally brought by the Health Freedom Defense Fund and two travelers with anxiety who protested wearing the masks.

The federal government had continually announced an extension of the mask mandate for transportation, which included planes, trains, buses and subways, because of an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

The mandate was issued on Feb. 3, 2021, roughly two weeks after President Biden took office. The mandate provided exceptions for children younger than 2 and for people with certain disabilities.

It was set to expire on April 18 but was extended to May 3 until the judge handed down the order.

For now, masks are not required on federal transportation - but that could change in the future depending on what the 11th Circuit does.

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.