The dozens of startups that increased domestic mask production at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic are struggling to stay afloat days after the federal mask mandate for transportation was lifted.

On the brink of collapse, many small domestic manufacturers are pointing the finger at the federal government for their woes, accusing it of taking up policies in the early days of the pandemic that actively harmed their businesses, such as restrictions on advertising personal protective equipment and dubious government contracts on masks.