WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Justice Department on Tuesday asked an appeals court panel to dismiss its appeal and vacate an April 2021 ruling that declared unlawful a government order requiring masks on airplanes other transportation modes as moot.
A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in January heard arguments on the Biden Administration’s appeal of a ruling by a U.S. district court judge in Florida that found the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lacked legal authority to issue a nationwide travel mask mandate to combat COVID-19. The Justice Department said Tuesday in a court filing the issue was moot because of “a fundamental change in public health conditions, as evidenced by the joint resolution of Congress terminating the national emergency.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul)
