Trump’s surgeon general condemns ‘single unelected judge’ who overturned mask mandate on planes

Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday suggested the Florida federal judge who struck down the Centers for Disease Control’s mask mandate for planes, trains, and busses is a partisan who ruled out of animus for the Biden administration.

On Monday, US District Judge Kathryn Mizelle issued a ruling invalidating the mandate on the grounds that the Centers for Disease Control’s authority to enforce “sanitation” rules was limited to rules regarding cleaning, and therefore could not be used to compel Americans to cover their faces to protect from disease.

While judges in any of the 94 US judicial districts technically have the power to issue orders that can bind the federal government in all 50 states, whether widespread use of such authority is wise is a matter that is often hotly debated among legal scholars.

Though he’s not a legal scholar, Dr Adams took to Twitter on Tuesday to weigh in on the matter.

“Remind me - which ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ explains to kids how a single unelected judge has the power to endanger their lives in public settings?” he wrote, before adding modified lyrics to the tune of “I’m Just a Bill” from the iconic ABC educational series: “I’m just a judge — I’m just a judge, and I’m hurting you cuz I’ve got a grudge”.

He later added that the “argument” he wanted to make was not if the judge had the power to issue a nationwide injunction against the mask mandate, but whether she should have done so “after taking into account all the variables and implications of the decision”.