Representatives File Lawsuit To End Mask Mandate For Air Travel
U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., and 15 of his colleagues, led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The lawsuit, Massie et al v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to end the CDC’s illegal mask mandate for individuals traveling on commercial airlines. The lawsuit takes on additional significance in the face of news reports indicating the Biden Administration is extending the CDC’s mask mandate until April 18.
“The CDC has forced Americans to wear masks on commercial flights for two years without legal standing. A mandate is not law, and Congress never passed legislation codifying the CDC’s mask wearing demands,” Rosendale said. “It is unconstitutional for the director of the CDC to suppress the freedoms of the American people in such a way, and political pressure to control the fearmongering narrative of COVID-19 needs to end.”
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the legal authority to force people traveling on commercial airlines to wear masks,” said Rep. Thomas Massie. “Congress never passed a law requiring masks on commercial flights. This lawsuit targets the faceless bureaucrats who are behind the CDC’s unscientific regulation so that this illegal mask mandate can be brought to a permanent end.”
Massie et al v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contains two primary claims: First, none of the statutes or regulations cited by the CDC for the authority to mandate that individuals wear masks on commercial airlines, conveyances, and at transportation hubs, permit the CDC to implement or enforce this mandate.
Second, even if Congress had granted the CDC the authority to promulgate the mask mandate, the granting of this authority would violate a principle known as the “non-delegation doctrine.”
Representative Rosendale and the co-plaintiffs are asking a federal court to declare that “the mask mandate is beyond the CDC’s statutory authority or is unconstitutional.” Further, the plaintiffs seek an injunction that prohibits the CDC, or anyone acting on the CDC’s behalf, from enforcing the mask mandate.
Sixteen of Representative Rosendale’s colleagues have also signed on to the lawsuit: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-AZ), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), and Rep. Chip Roy, (R-TX).
