Barry Moore joins lawsuit to end mask mandate for air travel

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Representative Barry Moore has joined sixteen of his colleagues in a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The lawsuit, Massie et al v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to end the CDC’s mask mandate for individuals traveling on commercial airlines. Reports indicate the Biden Administration is extending the CDC’s mask mandate until April 18.

Massie et al. v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The named defendants are Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle P. Walensky in her official capacity as Director of the CDC, and Sherri A. Berger in her official capacity as Chief of Staff of the CDC. 

The lawsuit contains two primary claims: 

  • First, none of the statutes or regulations cited by the CDC for the authority to mandate that individuals wear masks on commercial airlines, conveyances, and at transportation hubs, permit the CDC to implement or enforce this mandate. 
  • Second, even if Congress had granted the CDC the authority to promulgate the mask mandate, the granting of this authority would violate a principle known as the “non-delegation doctrine.”
  • Moore and his co-plaintiffs are asking a federal court to declare that “the mask mandate is beyond the CDC’s statutory authority or is unconstitutional.” The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction that prohibits the CDC, or anyone acting on the CDC’s behalf, from enforcing the mask mandate. 

    Rep. Thomas Massie argued that the CDC doesn’t have the authority to force people to wear masks on airplanes because Congress never passed a law requiring it.

    “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the legal authority to force people traveling on commercial airlines to wear masks,” stated Massie. “Congress never passed a law requiring masks on commercial flights. This lawsuit targets the faceless bureaucrats who are behind the CDC’s unscientific regulation so that this illegal mask mandate can be brought to a permanent end.”

    Moore argued that the mandate should end immediately because it infringes on constitutional freedoms.

    “Government bureaucrats desperate for relevancy are waging a war against everyday American citizens and their constitutional freedoms,” stated Rep. Moore. “The unscientific mask mandate for commercial air travel should be ended immediately, and I am proud to join my friend Rep. Massie in this lawsuit to end this charade permanently.”

    Additional plaintiffs for the lawsuit include Reps. Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Andrew Clyde, Warren Davidson, Bob Good, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Brian Mast, Alex Mooney, Ralph Norman, Bill Posey, Matt Rosendale, and Chip Roy.