Robert Besser
21 Jan 2023, 21:27 GMT+10
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Justice Department has requested an appeals court panel reverse a ruling made in April 2021 that declared a government order mandating the wearing of masks on airplanes, buses, trains, ride-sharing services and at airports and other transportation centers as unlawful.
A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the government's appeal of a ruling by a US district court judge in Florida, which decided that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not have the legal authority to issue a nationwide travel mask mandate to combat COVID-19.
After Joe Biden became president, the CDC issued the mask mandate in January 2021.
In 2020, the Trump administration blocked the CDC from adopting a federal transportation mask mandate, according to a report from US lawmakers in October.
The CDC argued that it was necessary "to prevent the possible infections and deaths that could result if people did not do the simple thing of just putting on a mask while they were traveling," Justice Department lawyer Brian Springer stressed.
In response, Lawyer Brant C. Hadaway, representing the five people who challenged the mandate in court, noted that in 2022 the CDC had not sought a stay of the district court's ruling.
"This is not about an urgent matter of public health," Hadaway told the court, stressing that if the CDC believed the issue was a "matter of life and death, it would have sought a faster ruling."
Get a daily dose of Europe Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Europe Sun.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: The White House said this week that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk met with John Podesta, a Democratic ...
MANILA, Philippines: In an effort to attract more tourists, President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund program for ...
TRIPOLI, Libya: Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni held talks on energy and migration in Libya this weekend, which are major ...
MIAMI, Florida: This decade, the US south is expected to see more new residents than any other region in the ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: After reporting record revenues in the fourth-quarter of 2022, US airlines expect strong travel demand ...
MANILA, Philippines: After a Filipina domestic worker was killed and dumped in the desert in the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait, ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In the latest indication that its interest rate hikes are slowing the US economy, the Federal Reserve's main ...
BEIJING, China: As COVID-19 restrictions and a slowing economy curbed consumer demand in 2022, China's smartphone sales witnessed a record ...
TOKYO, Japan: After struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku announced ...
NEW DELHI, India: Marking a year since the Tata Group took control of Air India, the former state-run carrier has ...
NEW YORK, New York - A slowing of wages growth in the fourth quarter, as reported by the Labor Department, ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: As it sets aside more funds to cover potentially bad loans, American Express announced that ...