united-states covid-19 air-travel
Who ordered the masks in American airports?
<p>I'm travelling recently for the first time in a while. I understand the scope of the mask orders: in the airports and on the planes.</p>
<p>What confuses me is what authority ordered it and where does that authority come from?</p>
<p>Different people, signs at the airports, and websites are calling it all of the following, among a variety of less common combinations and apparent synonyms:</p>
<ol>
<li>Federal mandate</li>
<li>Federal regulation</li>
<li>Federal law</li>
<li>Presidential order</li>
<li>TSA regulation</li>
<li>TSA rules</li>
</ol>
<p>Additionally, they all mention fines and even imprisonment for non-compliance.</p>
<p>I'm especially confused how all American airports (not planes while in the air) are not subject to their local state jurisdiction instead.</p>
<p>And what would be the technically correct name for the order?</p>

<p>There is a line in airports between the secure zone and the public zone. TSA has broad authority over the secure zone (a post 9-11 fact), and has <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/04/30/tsa-extends-face-mask-requirement-airports-and-throughout" rel="noreferrer">mandated wearing a mask</a> in its zones of authority. Because federal law supercedes state law, TSA rules override what the state or city may say. This is in fact an <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/01/31/tsa-implement-executive-order-regarding-face-masks-airport-security" rel="noreferrer">implementation of an executive order</a> by Biden. Outside the secure zone, there is a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/Mask-Order-CDC_GMTF_01-29-21-p.pdf" rel="noreferrer">CDC order</a> requiring masks &quot;at transportation hubs&quot;. Again, since airports are part of the interstate transport system and the federal government regulates anything that is interstate, the federal rules override any local rules.</p>
<p>These things are &quot;orders&quot;. Mandate is a popular term. A regulation is a rule constructed by an executive agency to implement some act of Congress. The act of Congress is popularly how people see &quot;the law&quot;, though the details of implementation as specified in a rule (regulation) are also &quot;law&quot; at least in the view of legal scholars. Typically, POTUS gives a general order which results in some action by a federal agency, which may in turn issue its own orders.</p>
