The US Justice Department asked an appeal court on Tuesday (January 17) to reverse an April 2021 ruling that declared the mask mandate on all public transport and airports unlawful. The ruling stated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lacked the legal authority to issue the nationwide travel mask mandate to combat COVID-19 back in January 2021.
The current appeal focuses on the CDC's decision to put the requirements in place immediately rather than give the public a chance to comment first, Reuters reports.
Lawyer Brian Springer now argues that the CDC should indeed be allowed to impose mask requirements without giving the public time to comment, to prevent possible infections and deaths that could result if people didn't just simply put on a mask while they were travelling.
