Ruling striking down CDC mask mandate sparks mixed emotions and new worries for Biden administration

Biden administration officials found themselves straddling an uncomfortable line in their quest to end the Covid-19 pandemic Monday -- celebrating a return to near-normalcy as they hosted scores of unmasked children for the White House Easter Egg Roll and then watching one of their final lines of defense against the virus fall hours later when a federal judge in Florida struck down the federal mask mandate for airlines, trains and mass transit.

It was only last week that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had extended the travel mask mandate through May 3 so administration officials could sort out their next move among conflicting signs about the trajectory of the virus. But several hours after US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled that the mandate was unlawful, an administration official told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that the CDC's mask mandate was no longer being enforced, which the Transportation Security Administration confirmed late Monday.