Nearly half of the country is suing the Biden administration over the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s “unlawful mask mandate on public transportation.” The lawsuit is led by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who say the mandate “exceeds the agency’s authority and interferes with state laws banning forced masking.”

“Florida has led the nation in standing up to misguided federal government policies and fighting back against heavy-handed mandates that have no scientific backing,” Gov. DeSantis said. “If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked. It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life.”

“President Biden’s shortsighted, heavy-handed and unlawful travel policies are frustrating travelers and causing chaos on public transportation,” Moody added. “It’s long past time to alleviate some of the pressure on travelers and those working in the travel industry by immediately ending Biden’s unlawful public transportation mandates. I’m proud to stand with Governor DeSantis and to lead my fellow Attorneys General in this multistate action to end the forced masking of travelers in the U.S.”

The public transportation mask mandate took effect at the beginning of last February. It was supposed to expire earlier this month, but the CDC decided to extend it for another month.

“The Biden Administration chose to extend the order until April 18, despite the lack of high-quality data to support the efficacy of mask mandates, case numbers and hospitalizations experiencing a large downward trend, and 81.7% of the population having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” DeSantis’ office said in a news release.

Joining Florida in the lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.