White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is being asked if President Joe Biden’s recent statement about mask-wearing on planes was signaling a shift away from mandates.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, a reporter noted, “The president said yesterday that people should decide for themselves whether to wear masks on airplanes.”
“I’m wondering if his comment was intended to shift in thinking in the administration away from mandates toward more personal responsibility,” she said.
Psaki responded, “The president was answering the question quite literally, which means right now — as you know — we are not implementing the mask mandate because of the court order which we disagree with.”
“He is still abiding by CDC guidance, and we recommend Americans do that across the country. They’re still recommending people wear masks on airplanes. On Air Force One, which of course, is a federal, not a private plane, we all wore masks on the plane when we traveled to New Hampshire yesterday,” she continued.
Psaki added, “But people are not legally bound to wear masks. So it is a point in time where it is their choice in that regard.”
Watch the video below:
Psaki defends Biden saying masking is a personal decision as the administration seeks to reinstate required masking on planes and trains: "The president was answering the question quite literally, which means…we are not implementing the mask mandate because of the court order" pic.twitter.com/iiF1xDzstT
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 20, 2022
On Tuesday, Biden was asked, “Should people continue to wear masks on planes?”
“That’s up to them,” he responded.
Reporter: "Should people continue to wear masks on planes?"
— The Recount (@therecount) April 19, 2022
Biden: "That's up to them." pic.twitter.com/SyEg4WUzxu
On Monday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizell struck down his administration’s mask mandate for public transportation, as IJR reported.
As The New York Times notes, “In her ruling, Judge Mizelle adopted a narrow interpretation of the authority Congress granted to the C.D.C. to issue rules aimed at preventing the interstate spread of communicable diseases.”
“The law says the agency may take such measures as it deems “necessary,” and provides a list of examples, like ‘sanitation.’ The judge wrote that this power was limited to things like cleaning property — not requiring people to take hygienic steps,” it adds.
Shortly after the decision, Psaki called it “disappointing” and said the administration is “continuing to recommend people wear masks.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it will no longer enforce the mask mandate on planes or other forms of public transportation.
However, the Biden administration said it would appeal the ruling striking down the mask mandate, if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed the mandate was still needed.