Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined some 22 other Republican Attorney Generals in signing an amicus brief opposing the appeal of a ruling that blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from enforcing a mask mandate on interstate travel.

“What the state attorneys general argued was very consistent with what we had argued initially and with what the judge ruled but they reinforced it to a great extent,” said Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF), which filed the underlying legal action. “They essentially argued that there were several issues that the CDC is wrong on and which must be upheld by the appellate court.”

In Health Freedom Defense Fund Inc. vs. Joseph R. Biden, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled that the Biden Administration and the CDC are not authorized to force travelers to wear masks on flights or on buses. However, the Biden Administration has appealed the decision.