Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled on Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its authority and failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures when enacting the federal mask mandate for airplanes and other modes of public transportation. Mizelle, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, also concluded that mask mandates didn't satisfy the definition of "sanitation" in the 1944 Public Health Service Act. Two days later, the Biden administration filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on the ground that wearing a mask "remains necessary to protect the public health."