The White House is being pulled in multiple directions as it grapples with a federal court’s decision to strike down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s public transportation mask mandate.
Roughly six months before the 2022 midterm elections, the White House has to manage COVID-19-anxious Democrats as well as pandemic-weary independents and angry, energized Republicans. At the same time, President Joe Biden has to balance his campaign promise to be led by science by supporting a beleaguered CDC.
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Biden’s Justice Department pledging to appeal the court decision if the CDC recommends the mask mandate be extended beyond May 3 is a demonstration of support for the embattled federal agency, according to former Republican staffer-turned-Claremont McKenna College politics professor John Pitney. The CDC requested an appeal Wednesday night.
But the court’s decision comes at an awkward moment for Biden and Democrats as COVID-19 mitigation strategies are rolled back thanks to the stabilization of deaths and hospitalizations and the CDC’s recent ask for a short-term extension to assess whether it is still even needed.
“I am guessing that President Biden has said a few Hail Marys hoping that CDC will say that an extension of the mandate is not necessary,” Pitney, who has written extensively on the politicization of autism, said.
An Associated Press/National Opinion Research Center poll published Wednesday found that a majority, or 56%, supported mandating that people wear masks on mass transportation. Almost a quarter, 24%, are opposed to the requirement, while one-fifth said they do not have an opinion.
“People with disabilities or weakened immune systems are especially likely to want the mandate to stay in place,” Pitney said. “But opposition is extremely intense and highly visible.”
And even if the Justice Department succeeds with an appeal, the court’s decision would be difficult to reverse since the Transportation Security Administration has stopped enforcing the mandate, according to Pitney.
“Reimposing a mandate after it has been lifted is likely to be unpopular,” he said. “People dislike uncertainty and inconsistency.”
One problem is that people who do not “follow the news that closely” may think dropping the mask mandate was triggered by a public health recommendation and not a court decision, according to former CDC spokesman Glen Nowak. The University of Georgia Center for Health and Risk Communication director agreed enforcement had been and would continue to be a challenge.
“They’re well aware that there are many people in the country who don’t support mask mandates,” he said. “If they’re not going to support mask mandates, they’re of limited value among large groups of the U.S. population.”
For former Democratic strategist Sandy Maisel, the CDC had “a perfectly good reason” to extend the mask mandate. But it was “stupid” for the White House and the Democrats, as “it’s an albatross around their neck,” he said. The Colby College politics professor concurred the change should have emanated from public health officials and that the precedent-setting court decision is problematic.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Florida-based appointee of former President Donald Trump, ruled against the mask mandate this week, arguing that the CDC had failed to defend the recommendation and follow its internal procedures. The Justice Department responded, insisting it was “a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health.”
As individuals and companies reacted to the development, the White House’s mask mandate position was confused by Biden himself. White House press secretary Jen Psaki had reiterated the administration’s face covering recommendation shortly after the decision, but the president told reporters in New Hampshire the choice is “up to” each person.
The White House is “guilty of malpractice” regarding its mask messaging, particularly as a collective community measure, according to Maisel.
“The Biden administration never was able to take charge of its own message, as opposed to being the anti-Trump message,” he said.
Psaki explained the difference between Biden’s personal choice mask comment and the administration’s face covering recommendation Wednesday, claiming he had answered the question “literally.” She deferred to the Justice Department, too, concerning why it did not pursue a stay of proceedings, which would have prevented the decision from taking effect, or file an emergency appeal.
“The CDC obviously, as you noted, called for this extension because they wanted to look at more data,” Psaki said.
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“The objective here is, of course, to appeal the 15-day extension but also to preserve the CDC authority over the long term,” she added. “We expect there to be ups and downs on the pandemic, and we certainly want the CDC to continue to have this authority.”
