A U.S. court has ordered parties in the Biden administration’s appeal of a lawsuit challenging the legality of its travel mask mandate during the pandemic to file briefs on whether or not the appeal is now “moot” due to the termination of the COVID-19 state of emergency.
The order comes after a Florida federal judge in April 2022 blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) requirement that passengers on planes, trains, and other forms of public transportation wear masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mandate was originally issued in 2021.
Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee, ruled at the time that the CDC exceeded its authority with the mandate and inappropriately did not seek public comment before imposing the order….