The US Department of Justice continued to fight against a mandate requiring masks on airplanes and other transportation equipment in federal court on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, the Justice Department asked a court to overturn a judge's decision in April 2021 to strike down the mandate. In September 2021, Biden declared that the pandemic was over. All 50 states and most local governments had already stopped requiring masks by then.
Judge Kathryn Kimball-Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida ruled that the CDC did not have the authority to require masks. She was appointed by Donald Trump.
A week before the judge's ruling, Biden had announced the extension of the mask mandate, which had been in effect since January 2021.
Following the judge's ruling, the Department of Justice stated that it would appeal. The CDC also disagreed with the ruling and noted that it was still in favor of the mandate. The agency claimed that the mandate was an important part of the CDC's authority to protect the public.
Airplane passenger reports of inebriated individuals spiked during the pandemic. Incidents peaked at around 6.4 per week during the last weeks of the mandate. They then decreased to 2.2 per week throughout the rest of 2021.
The White House and the Department of Justice did not respond to our requests for comment.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Daily Caller.
