On Monday, just hours after a federal judge struck down the nationwide public transportation mask mandate, major airlines (and even President Joe Biden's beloved Amtrak) began telling their passengers they could stop wearing the protective face coverings — sometimes while they had already boarded and taken their assigned seats. The surprise ruling seems to have caught the White House flat-footed on the question of whether or not to appeal the ruling.
On Monday, just hours after a federal judge struck down the nationwide public transportation mask mandate, major airlines (and even President Joe Biden's beloved Amtrak) began telling their passengers they could stop wearing the protective face coverings — sometimes while they had already boarded and taken their assigned seats. The surprise ruling seems to have caught the White House flat-footed on the question of whether or not to appeal the ruling.
Raghu Manavalan is a senior editor for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO’s audio department.