DOJ says it will appeal federal judge’s controversial ruling striking down mask mandates on planes if CDC says mandate should remain

• The Department of Justice may appeal a ruling striking the mask mandate on planes and transit.
• The DOJ added that TSA would enforce the mandate until May 3, and the appeal will depend on the CDC.
• Several US airlines have already dropped the mask requirement on board.

The Department of Justice said it will appeal a federal judge’s decision to strike down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s face-mask mandate for planes and public transit if the CDC assesses that the mask mandate should remain. 

“The Department continues to believe that the order requiring masking in the transportation corridor is a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health,” DOJ spokesman Anthony Coley tweeted on Tuesday. “That is an important authority the Department will continue to work to preserve.”

On Monday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump-appointed judge struck down the mask mandate for planes and mass transit, saying in her ruling that the CDC overstepped its powers with the initial guidance.

“Our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends,” she said in the ruling. 

In Coley’s Tuesday statement from the DOJ, he said that before the district court’s decision on Monday, the CDC had said the order would stay in place while it assessed “current public health conditions” and that Transportation Security Administration planned to “extend its directive implementing the order until May 3 to facilitate CDC’s assessment.”

“If CDC concludes that a mandatory order remains necessary for the public’s health after that assessment, the Department of Justice will appeal the district court’s decision,” Coley said.

Several US airlines, such as American, Alaska, United, Delta, and Southwest, dropped their requirement after the ruling, making mask usage optional, while train systems like Amtrak followed suit. Many passengers were informed of the policy change mid-flight. 

The requirement was put implemented by the Biden administration in February 2021 and had been extended multiple times.