We’ve seen videos of flight attendants removing their masks in-flight as the announcement came in that the mask mandate was no longer in place, and as we reported, earlier Tuesday President Joe Biden told a reporter it’s “up to them” when asked if people should still wear masks on airplanes.
Never mind what the president said. His Department of Justice is filing an appeal to have the mask mandate reinstated if the CDC says masks are still necessary for travel.
BREAKING: DOJ plans to appeal mask ruling if CDC says masks are necessary for travel.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 19, 2022
BREAKING: DOJ will appeal mask ruling. pic.twitter.com/it2d9SAkQ4
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) April 19, 2022
CDC has concluded that mask order is necessary, per @PeteWilliamsNBC. DOJ will appeal, but will not seek an emergency stay of the judge’s ruling, so the mandate will not be in place while the appeal proceeds.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) April 19, 2022
Here’s how it goes. The Biden administration passed the buck to the CDC, which said the mask mandate was still necessary. The Justice Department will therefore appeal. However, it won’t seek an emergency stay of the judge’s ruling, so the mandate is still officially off while this works its way through the courts. This means, in a brilliant strategic move, Biden has decided to fight to keep masks mandatory while people are celebrating finally getting them off.
But it says they will appeal if they want to extend the ban beyond May 3rd? So were they already looking at extending the mandate prior to yesterday?
This is going to get ugly. Just take the L. https://t.co/JxHtqENmGO
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) April 19, 2022
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DoJ appears to be saying they will appeal only if the CDC deems that the mandate that was set to expire on May 3rd is still necessary.
But they do not seem to be asking for a stay so the mandate will not be in place unless/until such an appeal is done. https://t.co/EwsdBi0sJE
— AG🌻 (@AGHamilton29) April 19, 2022
This seems to be less about imposing a mask mandate and more about trying to keep the power to do so.
To which I would say: If the Biden admin actually thinks it is necessary that they have the power to impose a mask mandate, they can go ask Congress to give it to them. https://t.co/V8OAOhA2RP
— AG🌻 (@AGHamilton29) April 19, 2022
Of course the CDC will say that. It’s part of the control mechanism.
— Marty (@marticus06) April 19, 2022
“Let’s spend the election year trying to defend expired mask mandates because they were tossed by one district court with no binding effect on other courts and in the process risk a circuit court or the high court ruling against our power claim” is a weird strategy.
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) April 19, 2022
Nothing wrong with appealing this decision. Weird that they hinged it on the CDC so they can erode their brand a bit more in the process.
— Dan (@Dano_el_Mano) April 19, 2022
This is a compromise. DOJ is always going to want to defend the institutional power of the executive (here, the CDC), no matter which party is in power.
But politically the mask mandate is a loser, so they're not going to ask for a stay in the meantime.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) April 19, 2022
Biden Presidency. https://t.co/qvJkaxd6kf pic.twitter.com/FWBbznOwVK
— Blame Big Government (@BlameBigGovt) April 19, 2022
From the “Who cares?” file:
Biden to wear mask on flight to New Hampshire https://t.co/fDpoXJAJlH pic.twitter.com/x5lQEAICYG
— The Hill (@thehill) April 19, 2022
Joe Biden will wear a mask whenever his handlers strap one on his face.
Related:
Man’s tragic tale of getting trapped with his son in ‘MAGA airspace’ tugs at NYT journo’s heartstrings … before knocking her upside the head https://t.co/oZYNTyQQ4j
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 19, 2022
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