White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration continues to recommend air travelers to wear masks on planes, after a federal judge overturned the national mask mandate for air travel earlier on Monday.
“This is obviously a disappointing decision,” Psaki told reporters at a White House press conference. “The CDC continues recommending wearing a mask on public transit.”
Psaki added that the Department of Homeland Security and CDC are reviewing the judge’s ruling, “and of course the Department of Justice would make any determinations about litigation.”
When a reporter pressed Psaki on whether the mandate remained in place, Psaki again stated that the Biden administration continues to recommend wearing masks on planes.
“I want to belabor this only because we’ve heard from the airlines, from airport passengers— there may be people sitting at an airport bar watching right now wondering: if they’re boarding a flight tonight, is the mask mandate still in place?” CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe asked.
“We’re continuing to recommend people wear masks. I don’t have any update, this just came through the courts just this afternoon, and as soon as there is an update, we will provide that,” Psaki responded.
Hours after Psaki’s comments, the Biden administration said the Transportation Security Administration, which implements the mandate, would cease enforcing the mask requirement.
“Today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time,” an administration official said in a statement to media outlets. “Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”
Psaki’s comments came hours after U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle ruled that the Biden administration’s mask mandate for public transportation and air travel violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
The mandate was initially scheduled to expire on Monday, however the CDC announced last week that it would renew the mandate in light of a rise in Covid cases due to the spread of an Omicron sub-variant.
Editor’s note 6:33 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from a Biden administration official confirming that the TSA will not enforce the national transportation mask mandate.