Justice Department will appeal mask ruling if CDC says mandate is still needed
CBSN
The Justice Department will appeal a district judge's decision to end the national mask mandate on public transit only if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the mandate is still necessary, the department said Tuesday in a statement. The DOJ added that it disagrees with the district court's decision.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa voided the CDC's requirement covering airplanes and other public transit, saying the mandate exceeded the authority of U.S. health officials. In the aftermath, the Transportation Security Administration said it would no longer enforce the mandate.
The judge's decision came after the CDC extended the mask mandate, which had been set to expire Monday, by two weeks to give researchers more time to study the Omicron subvariant BA.2.
