Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Attorney General Ashley Moody are leading 20 other states in an action against President Joe Biden’s mask mandate on public transportation.
Moody argued that the mandate exceeds the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a quarantine statute—that has been ruled against in court several times—to authorize the CDC’s rule,” Moody’s office insisted. “The continuation of the unlawful mask mandate harms the states. It also interferes with state law in places like Florida, which has imposed laws banning forced masking. The mandate also runs against reason, as now even the states with the most stringent COVID-19 policies are beginning to lift indoor mask mandates.”
“Florida has led the nation in standing up to misguided federal government policies and fighting back against heavy-handed mandates that have no scientific backing. If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked. It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life,” DeSantis said.
“President Biden’s shortsighted, heavy-handed and unlawful travel policies are frustrating travelers and causing chaos on public transportation. 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. I’m proud to stand with Governor DeSantis and to lead my fellow attorneys general in this multistate action to end the forced masking of travelers in the United States,” Moody said.
In a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, Moody and the joining states argue that the CDC’s mask mandate exceeds the agency’s authority in several ways. Additionally, the complaint insisted that the CDC rule is arbitrary and capricious, requiring notice and comment that was not given before being implemented and did not consider actions that states had already taken to control the spread of COVID-19. The mandate also requires state-run conveyances and transportation hubs to affirmatively enforce the rule which critics maintain is in violation of the anti-commandeering doctrine.
Moody was joined in the complaint by the attorneys general from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Moody filed the action in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
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