Psaki says mask choice is a personal choice

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that President Biden believes wearing masks on public transportation should be a personal choice as long as people are not legally bound by a mandate.

The Department of Justice said it would appeal a federal judge's decision to remove COVID 19 mask mandates for public transportation if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed it necessary.

President Biden said Tuesday if people should wear masks on airplanes is up to them. The comments came after the White House tried to extend the federal mask mandate on public transportation.

A reporter asked Psaki if Biden's comments signaled a shift in the administration from mandates to more personal responsibility.

Psaki said Biden was answering the question quite literally, and appeared to suggest that the matter of personal choice was only relevant when the administration had no court backing to enforce a mask mandate.

We are not implementing the mask mandate because of the court order that we disagree with. President Biden is still abiding by CDC guidance and we recommend Americans do that across the country. The CDC recommends people still wear masks, but Psaki said that the president and his staff still wear masks when they travel on Air Force One.

She added that people are not legally bound to wear masks, so it is a point in time that it is up to people in that regard. Later in the press conference another reporter asked Psaki if the White House was involved in the DOJ's decision-making process to appeal the judge's ruling if the CDC deemed it necessary.

Psaki said that the White House was legally able to be part of the discussion, but at this time it is deferring to the CDC for their guidance.