On April 18, 2022, the US federal transportation mask mandate ended. The judge ruled that the CDC didn't follow proper rule making procedures and that it should not be valid through May 3.
The CDC wants the DOJ to appeal the decision and bring back the mask mandate.
The CDC asked the DOJ to appeal the district judge's ruling that ended the face mask mandate. As it is described.
This is being done “to protect CDC’s public health authority beyond the ongoing assessment”
Furthermore, “it is CDC’s continuing assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health”
The “CDC believes this is a lawful order, well within CDC’s legal authority to protect public health”
The DOJ is challenging the end of the mask mandate
I’m curious to see how this plays out
I'm not a legal expert or a doctor, but I have a few thoughts.
If this is simply about protecting the CDC’s authority to make decisions like this going forward, I can appreciate the logic of the DOJ challenging this ruling
From a practical perspective, I just can’t imagine that we’ll see the mask mandate brought back, even if the DOJ succeeds; I would expect this to lead to more unruly passenger incidents than ever before, and for that matter I think the political implications for Biden would be… not great
The Biden administration’s messaging following the judge’s ruling has been strange, as it was stated on April 19 that the decision would be appealed “subject to CDC’s conclusion that the order remains necessary for public health”; the CDC had already extended the mask mandate, so this seems like an odd press release to put out a day after the judge’s ruling
The mask mandate won't be brought back even if the DOJ wins, because the legal process will take some time. I could be wrong.
I have a hard time imagining the mask mandate will be brought back
Bottom line
The transportation mask mandate will be challenged by the DOJ. This is being done to protect the CDC's public health authority, and because the CDC believes that this is necessary for public health.
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