The Justice Department is appealing Monday's decision by a district court judge in Florida to vacate the federal mask mandate for airlines, airports and other mass transportation.
The DOJ said it would appeal the ruling if the CDC concluded that the mask mandate was necessary to protect the public health, which the CDC did on Wednesday.
"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. That is an important authority the Department will continue to work to preserve," the DOJ said.
In her decision, U.S. District Judge Kahtryn Mizelle, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, determined that the CDC overstepped its authority in establishing the mandate early last year and also failed to follow required federal rulemaking procedures.
U.S. airlines eliminated their facemask requirements within hours of the ruling.
Prior to last week, the mask mandate had been set to expire on April 18. But the CDC decided to extend the rule through May 3 due to rising U.S. Covid-19 cases caused by the spread of the BA.2 omicron subvariant.
___
This report was updated on Wednesday evening after the CDC said that the mask mandate was necessary to protect the public health.