As blue states across the country announce sunset dates for their mask requirements, the fate of the far-reaching federal mask mandate for public transit, trains, airplanes, and airports hangs in the balance.
The mandate, which has already been extended three times, is currently set to expire on March 18, and the White House has not said whether it would end on schedule. Questions sent to White House communications staff by the Washington Examiner did not receive an answer.
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With state-level mandates falling nationwide, conservative leaders are calling on the Biden administration to allow school bus, train, and airplane passengers to choose whether they wear a face covering.
“It is past time to stop the mask mandate madness,” said Club for Growth President David McIntosh. “Even the most authoritarian-inclined Democrat governors have seen the light. Our federal health officials need to put scientific data, common sense, and the common good ahead of their bureaucratic power games.”
Job Creators Network, a conservative advocacy group, has taken out billboards in Times Square calling on Biden to drop the requirements.
The federal mask mandate was last extended on Dec. 2, 47 days before the previous expiration date of Jan. 18. March 18 is now 36 days away, indicating the White House is at least holding off on the decision.
When asked about Democratic governors dropping mask mandates, still recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly told reporters the president does not instruct the agency to change its COVID-19 guidance in any form and that she did not have any announcements to preview.
Biden “doesn’t take into account all these other factors,” she said when pressed on political pressure for the federal government to ditch strict mask mandates like some Democratic governors have done. “We are certainly going to listen to our doctors and medical experts.”
During a press briefing earlier this week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky underscored hospitalizations and death rates were “still high” despite falling case numbers.
“We are encouraged by current trends,” she said. “We are not there yet.”
If the federal mask mandate does expire in mid-March, it would be welcome news for airline industry leaders.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly and American Airlines CEO Doug Park testified before Congress in December that planes are extremely well ventilated and safe to board with or without masks.
But when Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked on TV a few days later if the United States will ever reach a point when masks shouldn’t be required on airplanes, he replied, “I don’t think so.”
Airlines have also seen vastly increased cases of unruly passengers since the mandates began, with Delta asking the Department of Justice to create a federal “no-fly” list.
Dr. Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said COVID-19 transmission remains high enough to justify keeping the mandate and that 36 days is a long time in the COVID era.
“It could be that we are dealing with the next Greek letter [variant] at that stage,” said Gronvall, emphasizing vaccines as the most important protective factor against the virus.
Nonetheless, she predicts the federal mandate would be allowed to expire if current trends hold.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they followed suit to lift mandates and people can choose whether or not to wear masks,” she said. “I can tell you that I will wear a mask if I am on public transportation.”
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While a popular mantra throughout the pandemic has been to “follow the science,” it may be that political science is behind the anti-mandate movement.
Seven in 10 people agreed with the statement, “It’s time we accept that COVID is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives,” in a recent Monmouth University poll. Acceptance of the virus as a part of normal life varied by political affiliation, with 89% of Republicans agreeing versus 71% of independents and 47% of Democrats.
