TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The State of Florida has filed a complaint against the Biden administration seeking the end to the federal mask mandate on public transportation and in transit hubs instituted because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a permanent injunction against enforcement, Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Tuesday.

Moody argued that the mandate exceeds the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a quarantine statute — that has been ruled against in court several times — to authorize the CDC’s rule,” Moody said in a statement.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, said the statute used to justify the mandate does not authorize economy-wide measures and that it only authorizes rules directly related to preventing the interstate spread of disease, which would not permit mask requirements for individuals who show no sign of infection.

"The continuance of the mask mandate harms state and interferes with state law in places like Florida, which has imposed laws banning forced masking," Moody said.

“The mandate also runs against reason, as now even the states with the most stringent COVID-19 policies are beginning to lift indoor mask mandates,” Moody continued.  

Moody is joined in the complaint by the attorneys general from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

The complaint comes after the chief executive officers of six major U.S. airlines sent a letter to President Joe Biden on March 23 urging him to stop requiring masks on airplanes.

In that letter, the airline CEOs said they believe the current COVID-19 data calls for changes in the policy.

“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” the letter said.

The federal mask mandate was implemented in early 2021, soon after Biden was sworn in as president, to try to help slow the spread of COVID-19.  Former president Donald Trump had rejected requests by public health officials to impose the requirements.

The travel mask mandate was scheduled to expire March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration extended it to April 18.