Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images Combining political chutzpah, some creative legal thinking, and the many carrots and sticks available to the federal government, Joe Biden and his administration have picked a big fight with the Republican governors who are seeking to keep local school districts from mandating mask usage by kids as schools reopen.
In separate discussions with reporters Cardona has indicated his department will use its civil-rights enforcement powers to defend mask mandates based on the theory that exposure to COVID-19 puts federally protected students at risk, as the New York Times explains: Earlier, Cardona had put GOP governors on notice that he might use federal incentives and disincentives to counter their actions against mask mandates, as Politico reported: