Just before President Joe Biden took office, he asked Americans to "mask up" for 100 days.
Biden said he would work with mayors and governors in red and blue states to ask them to require masks.
"This is not a political issue," Biden said, days before he was inaugurated.
But masks became a political issue in 2020 early in the pandemic when President Donald Trump spread falsehoods about masks and mocked mask wearing. Mask resistance by some members of the public and politicians have continued this year, posing an obstacle to Biden's campaign promise to implement mask mandates nationwide by working with governors and mayors.
After Biden took office in January, he issued orders requiring masks in federal buildings and on airplanes and trains. In February, Biden announced his administration would deliver 25 million masks to community health centers, food pantries and soup kitchens nationwide.
But Biden doesn't have the authority to issue mask mandates for cities and states, and during his first 100 days, we saw many states back away from mask mandates.
Adriane Casalotti, a spokesperson for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said the reduction of cases, the vaccine roll out and pandemic fatigue all contributed to decisions about mask rules.
"I'd note that from a public health perspective, we are not out of the woods in any measure to make these changes yet based on those factors," Casalotti said. "The mandates on transportation are very meaningful, however, and help prevent spread there while also signaling that these efforts are still necessary."
About half of the states have mandatory mask restrictions as of mid-April, according to state trackers by the New York Times and AARP. Some states that dropped the mandate replaced it with language encouraging, but not requiring, use of masks.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, was among the governors to lift the state's mask mandate this spring, although his order "strongly encouraged" people to wear masks.
"I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING," Abbott tweeted March 2.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she would personally continue to wear a mask when she lifted the statewide order as of April.
"There is no question wearing masks has been one of our safest tools in preventing the spread of the virus," said Ivey, a Republican. "When we lift the mask order, I will continue to wear my mask while around others and will strongly urge my fellow citizens to use common sense and do the same thing, but at that time, it will become a matter of personal responsibility and not a government mandate."
The end of statewide mask mandates in some states does not mean that there are no mask rules anywhere, although compliance with mask wearing varies. Some businesses have continued to require masks, and some city or county officials continue to mandate mask use, for example in the city of Austin, Texas. The White House pointed to a New York Times article in March that showed some officials continued to encourage mask use, including the Republican mayor of Arlington, Texas.
One more point about Biden's promise: We wondered about the outcome of the Transportation Security Administration's announcement that individuals who violated mask rules on commercial and public transportation. TSA said it would fine violators starting at $250 for the first offense up to $1,500 for repeat offenders. We asked a TSA spokesperson how many people had been fined, and the spokesperson told us that data isn't available until legal proceedings are completed. However, the spokesperson told us that since Feb. 2, transportation system operators have reported about 1,000 passengers for refusing to wear a face mask among millions of passengers.
Back to Biden's promise: Biden has taken the steps available to him to require masks on federal property and airplanes and to send masks to vulnerable populations. But during Biden's first 100 days, we saw some states move in the opposite direction and drop mandates, although in some instances officials continued to encourage mask use, or require them on a local level.
We rate this promise Compromise.
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