(Headline USA) The Biden administration is prepared to extend the federal mask mandate again, said Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, on Monday.
It comes as Democrats in Washington, DC—including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—have openly flouted normal safety regulations for social distancing and quarantining after exposure, resulting in a widespread outbreak on Capitol Hill.
The mandate—which applies to airports, airplanes, trains and other forms of transportation—is scheduled to expire on April 18, having already been extended a month.
But Jha signaled the administration might extend it again, claiming that would be a decision for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is a CDC decision, and I think it is absolutely on the table,” he told the Today Show.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will “make her decision based on the framework that the CDC scientists create” in the coming days, he added.
Even longtime COVID czar Anthony Fauci admitted this week that it’s time for people to start weighing the risks for themselves when it comes to COVID-19.
“This is not going to be eradicated, and it’s not going to be eliminated,” Fauci told Jonathan Karl on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “And what’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take.”
Earlier this month, the Senate passed a resolution striking down the federal mask mandate after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., forced a vote on it.
The Democrat-controlled House, however, has not yet taken it up, and President Joe Biden has already vowed to veto it if it does pass the House.
“Today, the Senate said enough is enough and sent a message to unelected government bureaucrats to stop the anti-science, nanny state requirement of travel mask mandates,” Paul said after the vote.
