A federal judge's order yesterday vacating the Centers for Disease Control's mask mandate for interstate conveyances will probably mark the unofficial end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC had extended the order last week until the first week in May citing the BA.2 variant's unknown path. This extension came after all the major airlines requested an end to the requirement.
The federal mask mandate was limited to interstate commerce conveyances because, in the American system, that is where the federal power lies. Public health at the local level not only precedes the existence of the CDC but stands as the primary adjudicator of preventive and responsive measures. Congress, knowing that, did not give the CDC the sweeping powers it subsequently used to delay evictions, limit certain activity of cruise ships and require masks to be worn in select circumstances.
Because anyone with a passing understanding of federal power knew or suspected the CDC's actions were overreach under both Presidents Trump and Biden, they became symbols of political power more than health measures.
The judge's decision is great news for the Biden administration that catches few breaks these days. Without lifting a finger or trying to win an argument with that tiny sliver of people that still hope for the COVID reset, the president rids himself of a hated symbol and makes progress on his agenda to put the pandemic behind him. No president likes to be rebuked by the courts but in this case it provides an earlier and more graceful exit for something that was inevitable anyway.
The decision comes at the perfect moment. Hospitalizations for COVID are at a pandemic low. Much of the world has adapted and found new ways forward after a crazy couple of years. Spring has arrived.
Emily Evans
Managing Director – Health Policy
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