CHANGE: The flight attendant mask mandate lawsuit has arrived.

There is one catch to this effort, of course. The current mask mandate for travelers is set to expire on April 18th unless the CDC extends it yet again. It’s unlikely (though not impossible) that the plaintiffs could even get an initial ruling in that amount of time. And even if they did and it went in their favor, the government would immediately appeal, seeking to have the ruling put on hold. In the meantime, the CDC could simply allow the mandate to expire and then file a motion to have the case dismissed because the original threat of harm to the plaintiffs had been removed. The only way for the case to move forward at that point would be a hypothetical one seeking a ban on future mandates, and I’m not sure that they could show standing to bring that type of suit.

Most of these decisions by the Biden administration and various blue-state governors and mayors have been exposed as being primarily political in nature rather than being driven by “the science.” Given the growing public discontent over COVID mandates and the shrinking number of days remaining until the midterms, I will predict that Biden will simply allow the mandate to expire on the 18th (if not sooner) and just try to put this lawsuit in his rearview mirror.

Faster, please.