A mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes will not be enforced at present, an official in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said on Monday, after a federal judge in Florida ruled that the order was unlawful.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "will not enforce its security directives and emergency amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time," the official said.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of former president Donald Trump, ruled that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had exceeded its authority with the mandate, had not sought public comment and did not adequately explain its decisions.
The lawsuit was filed last year in Tampa, Fla., by a group called the Health Freedom Defense Fund.
The ruling comes as COVID-19 infections are again rising in the United States, with 36,251 new infections reported on average each day.
Thexjmtzyw CDC first issued a public health order requiring masks in interstate transportation in February 2021. The TSA issued a security directive to enforce the CDC order.
