For over a year, mask mandates have been in effect for air travel and other forms of public transportation.
The White House extended this mask mandate five consecutive times, much to the annoyance of everyday Americans and airline companies themselves.
Before each expiration date, Biden always found an excuse to keep the mandate alive, even as other similar edicts across the nation were rolled back.
The latest extension of the mask mandate was set to last until May 3. However, a federal judge completely shut this down.
Monday afternoon, the federal mask mandate for air travel and other modes of public transportation was officially brought to an end, as The Hill confirms.
No More Mask Mandates on Public Planes
Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle is the federal judge from Florida who struck down the mandate the Biden administration would have definitely extended yet again.
In her ruling, the federal judge explained the CDC went beyond its legal bounds and didn’t justify keeping this mandate in effect.
Promptly after this ruling, multiple airlines came out, announcing that going forward, masks would be up to the discretion of individuals.
Meet Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle. She just ended the airplane mask mandate for all Americans. HERO! pic.twitter.com/z1U1Gz1RyQ
— Tim Swain (@SwainForSenate) April 18, 2022
On top of this, various airports also announced that due to the ruling, masks are no longer mandatory in their terminals or other spaces.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) even stated that as a result of Judge Mizelle’s ruling, they’re no longer enforcing mask requirements in airports either.
Reactions to the Ruling
Across multiple social media platforms, people have expressed their delight with the removal of the mask mandate.
People have grown tired of masks and want to live their everyday lives. The Biden administration’s insistence on keeping the mandate alive came in spite of airline companies urging for the end of the mandate.
Since Monday’s ruling, the Biden administration expressed “disappointment” that folks aren’t obligated to wear masks in order to fly on planes or otherwise take public transportation.
Dear America: if you’re happy that you can now travel without a mask —because Biden’s mandate was ruled unlawful — please vote Republican in November. (Or there will always be another mandate).
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 19, 2022
As the White House remains unhappy with yet another one of its mandates being struck down, Americans feel precisely the opposite.
On Monday, various tweets and other social media posts shared stories of people being told by airline workers they could go without masks. Other Americans posted selfies of them in airports and on airplanes without face masks on.
This marks yet another time that one of Biden’s mandates has been shut down. Back in January, the Supreme Court stopped the president’s work to impose COVID vaccine mandates on large companies and their workers.
Are you glad that people are no longer mandated to wear face masks in order to fly on planes or use other forms of public transportation? In the comments section down below, let us know what you think about this new turn of events.
