The United States Senate voted 57-40 end federal mask mandates on airplanes and public transit. Eight Democrats voted with Republicans.
Mitt Romney (R-Establishment) was the only Republican to vote against the measure.
However, as reported by Roll Call (below) it may not pass the House and the White House states that it will follow The Science (which apparently says that 5 year-olds need to wear masks on the playground but it’s OK for the 79 year-old Joe Biden to stand next to the 81 year-old Nancy Pelosi for 90 minutes at the State of the Union Address) and veto the measure.
Despite the defection of eight Democrats — Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire all voted to oppose the mandate — the resolution’s future is uncertain in the House. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto if it passes there, with the White House saying “the determination of the timeline and circumstances under which masks should be required in these settings should be guided by science, not politics.”
Kelly, Bennet, Hassan and Cortez Masto are up for reelection this fall.