By Greg Wallace and Shawna Mizelle
A group of 21 states, as well as groups of pilots and flight attendants, are asking federal courts to permanently end the Biden administration’s federal transportation mask mandate, less than three weeks before it is set to expire.
The latest lawsuit, led by Florida and joined by 20 other states, asks a federal court in Florida to “issue permanent injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from enforcing the mask mandate.” The states’ claims include that the policy is an abuse of federal emergency powers.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The Transportation Security Administration declined to comment.
The lawsuit marks another push by governors around the country to throw out President Joe Biden’s federal public health order, which requires travelers to wear masks on airplanes, buses, trains and boats, as well as in airports and other transportation hubs. Last month, Texas filed a separate lawsuit in a longshot bid to scrap the President’s Covid-19 health measure.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit that “it is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life.”
The states joining Florida in the effort include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
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