Will he or won’t he?
This is a question many are asking about whether President Joe Biden will extend mask mandates in airports and airplanes. While the Branch Covidian crowd might be terrified by the prospect of people sitting on planes without cotton covering their faces, regular folks might welcome a return to normalcy.
The mask requirements are set to expire on March 18, less than 10 days away. Republicans are calling on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to allow the mandate to fade off into the distance after the president used the Omicron variant as an excuse to extend it in August 2021.
GOP Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (PA) and Doug LaMalfa (CA) penned a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske urging him to let the mandate expire, according to Fox News. “Given strong declines in COVID-19 cases and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest guidance eliminating indoor mask requirements for much of the population, we believe TSA’s mask mandate should be allowed to expire later this month,” they wrote.
Almost 100 Republican lawmakers signed the letter, which points out that since August, “the rolling average of new COVID-19 cases has declined by nearly two-thirds.”
TSA has not yet stated whether it will extend mandates again. Fox News reported: “As of last week, more than 90% of Americans live in low or moderate COVID-19-transmission areas, meaning they can stop wearing masks indoors and social distancing in line with CDC guidance.”
The GOP lawmakers also pointed to the number of incidents involving unruly passengers pushing back against face masks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documented 535 reports involving passengers becoming belligerent over masks. This makes up about 65 percent of the total unruly passenger report recorded as of March 1.
“No airline employee should have to deal with unruly passengers, and we support the FAA continuing to take a hard stance against these passengers,” the lawmakers wrote. “We believe that eliminating the mask mandate will provide a safer travel experience for everyone involved. It is past time that we follow the science and allow Americans to return to normalcy.”
This is not the first time Republicans have pushed for the end of mask mandates related to travel. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, in conjunction with the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) recently filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, arguing that these requirements were “unlawfully issued” and unconstitutional. In a joint statement, they wrote:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) mandate was unlawfully issued. It was not authorized by Congress, and the CDC did not put the mandate up for notice and comment, which is ordinarily required for regulations like this. Yet a person’s failure to comply with the Administration’s mask mandate carries criminal penalties.
Paxton’s office issued its own statement arguing the White House’s “repeated disregard of the individual liberties of Texans is not only disrespectful to the U.S. Constitution, it is also troublesome that any president thinks they can act above the law while hardworking Americans standby.”
Sen. Rand Paul has also taken a public stand against continued mask requirements in airplanes and airports. During a conversation with Fox News’ Dan Bongino, he announced he plans to force a vote to do away with mask mandates during travel. He said:
“But the interesting thing is that the Democrat governors are finally giving up on some of this stuff. Even D.C., the most Democrat city in the entire country, the mayor put on vaccine passports two weeks ago, put businesses — put restaurants out of business. Well, she’s already relinquished it.”
The senator said he had drafted a bill he is “going to force a vote on in the next two weeks on getting rid of the mask of airplanes,” arguing that the mandates are “only theater.”
Sen. @RandPaul to @dbongino on getting rid of airplane mask "theater" 👇
"I think ultimately the Democrats are gonna wake up one day and say 'my goodness, everyone hates us now because we're the nanny state' … The science isn't changing, but the polls sure are." pic.twitter.com/EsdcqVLOfZ
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) February 20, 2022
Paul also predicted the Democrats’ incessant pushing requiring masks during travel would come back to haunt them. “And the thing is is, I think ultimately the Democrats are going to wake up one day and say, ‘My goodness, everyone hates us now because we’re the nanny state,’ and so it’s happening, and it’s happening in a big way, and some of the Democrats are finally waking up,” he said.
It is this last statement that might be the primary indicator as to whether the administration will allow the requirements to expire. The COVID regime would absolutely love to keep Americans masked on airplanes for as long as possible. White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci last December said there would never be a time when Americans did not have to cover their faces on airplanes, despite science clearly indicating they are not necessary.
But for now, it seems the writing might be on the wall. People are tired of unnecessary COVID-19 measures and are craving a return to normalcy. The Democrats know this, which is why they are relaxing coronavirus measures in the states they run. At this point, it might be appropriate to be cautiously optimistic.
