Governor Ron DeSantis Tuesday announced that Florida is leading a multi-state lawsuit against what he called the unlawful federal mask mandate.
COVID cases and deaths have been waning, restrictions around the country are being lifted, but the mandate that masks must be worn on public transport remains in effect. The Governor argues it's past time to get rid of it.
“It’s not something that is grounded in any science," he said. "If you have somebody that’s sitting in the window seat and they’re nibbling on peanuts, they can have their mask down. You have the person in the middle seat that is not eating, if they just wanted to read a magazine without a mask then somehow that would be a big problem.”
The Governor was joined at the mid-day news conference in Tallahassee by Attorney General Ashley Moody. “This rule, this order is completely outside the bounds of the scope of federal power," said Moody, "as we have argued successfully in numerous other cases.”
The current CDC order, which has been in place for over a year, was set to expire this past March 18. The Biden Administration has chosen to extend the order until April 18. Which raises the question of why sue when its about to expire? “The original order is still in place," responded the Attorney General. "It still also has a penalty to it. I don’t think anyone should assume that they’re not going to extend it again in April, because that has been the history of this administration.”
“Watching mothers, exasperated fathers, trying to control their young children, it has caused so much confusion, so much chaos, so much pressure," said Moody. "For many reasons, this is the right time to rescind this mandate.”
20 other states have joined Florida in the lawsuit arguing that the CDC mask mandate on public transport exceeds the agency’s authority and interferes with state laws banning forced masking. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against enforcement of the mandate.