Is Joe Biden's HHS Implementing Mask Mandates Again?

The use of masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has lingered as a talking point, particularly among conservative politicians, even as case numbers and severity of the virus have fallen from the peak of the pandemic.

Many leading Republicans have been critical of the preventative measure, including (among others) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who earlier this year chastised a group of students wearing masks at a public conference, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz who has criticized mask mandates.

The debate was reignited again this week when a report by the U.S. Department of Health & Humanities (HHS) sparked rumors that the Biden Administration was trying to once again enforce mask use across the country.

A tweet, posted on November 22, 2022, by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), which has received more than 46,000 engagements, claims that the Biden White House is "trying to implement mask mandates again."