Several states mulling lawsuit to end Biden mask mandate on airlines, Indiana AG reveals

Several states are considering a lawsuit to end one of the Biden administration's last COVID-19 mandates requiring airline passengers to wear masks, Indiana Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita told Just the News.

"We are having discussions about that right now," Rokita told the Just the News TV show on Real America's Voice on Tuesday night, saying Florida is taking the lead on the idea.

The Transportation Security Administration last Thursday extended its mask mandate on public transportation through April 18 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced relaxed mask guidance at the end of last month.

"I know that several states may be filing very, very soon, maybe being led by the state of Florida," Rokita told Just the News Editor-in-Chief John Solomon and co-host Amanda Head.

Indiana is currently "examining" if they can join the lawsuit, Rokita said.

"It's just not as easy as when I was in Congress, just to jump on a lawsuit like we're jumping on a bill," the former congressman said. States must show that they have legal standing and actual injury before joining a lawsuit, the Rokita explained. 

"There are a lot of boxes you have to check before you jump on a lawsuit," he added.

A group of 16 Republican lawmakers on Monday filed a lawsuit against the CDC for what they said was an "illegal mask mandate for individuals traveling on commercial airlines," Newsweek reported.

The Senate passed a resolution Tuesday evening to overturn the health order requiring masks on public transportation, including planes. The resolution passed 57-40 with the support of Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet, Jacky Rosen, Catherine Cortez-Masto, Maggie Hassan, Mark Kelly, Joe Manchin, Kristen Sinema and Jon Tester. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote against the measure.

President Biden threatened to veto the resolution, which the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto.

The White House said that "circumstances under which masks should be required in these settings should be guided by science, not politics," according to Reuters.

The House has yet to vote on the measure, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may not allow the resolution to come to the floor for a vote.