Earlier this month, the Biden administration extended the mask mandate on public travel and transportation. The mandate applies to mass transportation including planes, trains and buses. It was originally set to expire on March 18 but was extended to April 18
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says it’s time to end the mandate now.
Marshall announced this week that he was joining a lawsuit against the Biden administration to end the public travel mask mandate.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the CDC has repeatedly overstepped its legal authority with impunity,” said Marshall in a press release. “It has done so based upon its flawed reliance on a limited federal statute authorizing traditional quarantine measures directly related to preventing the interstate spread of the disease. Despite courts consistently ruling against the CDC’s ‘unprecedented assertion of power,’ including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the CDC in a case brought by the Alabama Association of Realtors in 2021, the CDC remains defiant.”
Alabama joined 20 other states in this lawsuit, including three states with Democratic governors.
Marshall also argued in the lawsuit, “[T]he CDC’s unlawful mask mandate exceeds the agency’s authority in several ways. First, the statute used to justify the mandate does not authorize economy-wide measures. Second, the statute only authorizes rules directly related to preventing the interstate spread of disease—it does not permit mask requirements for individuals who show no sign of infection.”
Leading the effort is Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who said in a statement, “It’s long past time to alleviate some of the pressure on travelers and those working in the travel industry by immediately ending Biden’s unlawful public transportation mandates.”
This lawsuit comes shortly after major airline CEOs sent a letter to Biden asking him to end the mandates.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
