Florida and 20 states sue federal government over transportation mask mandate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida and 20 other states are suing the federal government over its mask mandate for passengers on public transportation.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Tuesday the lawsuit targets the Biden Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Transportation Security Administration, among others.

In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the CDC currently requires all passengers on "airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares" who are "traveling into, within, or out of the United States" to wear a facial covering, regardless of their vaccination status.

DeSantis and Moody on Tuesday called the rule unlawful and unfounded, asserting it has led to countless incidents of passengers being unruly and violent toward transportation employees.

"If you travel at all, everywhere you go, people are frustrated and taking it out on the employees charged with enforcing this rule," Moody said.

"If you have somebody sitting the window seat and they're nibbling on peanuts for two-and-a-half hours, they can have their mask down," DeSantis said. "You have the person in the middle seat that is not eating. If they just wanted to read a magazine without their mask, then somehow that would be a big problem."

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Moody argued the rule exceeds the authority of the CDC and contradicts state law in Florida, where "forced masking" is banned.

"This rule, this order is completely outside the bounds of the scope of federal power," Moody said.

The governor believes more people would want to travel and pump money into local economies if the mandate was removed.

"In Florida, we've been very clear that we want people to make their own decisions. We don't believe in COVID theater. And you do see lingering elements of that," DeSantis said.

The other states involved in the lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.