DeSantis warns it will bring suit against CDC rules on COVID-19 cruise ships to Supreme Court if necessary



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Governor of Florida Ron DeSantisRon DeSantis’ Appeals Tribunal Sides With CDC On COVID-19 Rules For Cruise Ships The Memo: Trump Is Down But Not Going Cuba, Haiti Pose Major Challenges For Florida Democrats MORE (R) said on Monday his state would fight a recent court order that left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) restrictions on cruise ships amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While addressing the recent ruling at a press conference, DeSantis said his administration was “absolutely going to pursue” its legal options, either in the same court that made the new ruling or in the United States Supreme Court. .

A panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled to grant the temporary stay in a 2-1 decision on Saturday night. The decision came shortly before a previous order blocking the rules of Judge Steven Merryday of the Middle District of Florida was about to come into effect, Reuters reported.

The last-minute decision came months after DeSantis announced the state’s lawsuit against the federal government, arguing the CDC was overstepping its authority with navigation orders and health requirements for cruise ships.

Under the agency’s orders, cruise passengers were required to adhere to a set of tests and safety measures before they could set sail after a number of COVID-19 outbreaks were recorded on cruises the last year.

In his comments in Poinciana, Fla. On Monday, DeSantis said he believed the state would “probably” lead its legal battle “to the 11th Circuit en banc.”

“I think most courts at this point have had their limit with the CDC issuing these dictates without a firm legal basis. So I am convinced that we would win on the merits on the 11th complete Circuit, ”he said.

“Honestly, I have no doubts that we would win in the US Supreme Court,” the governor added, saying he believed the ongoing legal battle was more important than his state’s case.

“One of the reasons we did it wasn’t just that it was an important industry to our state. We are committed to it, but it raises a bigger question, ”DeSantis said. “Can you have a single agency and government without Congress ever passing a law simply shutting down an industry?” Maybe you don’t care about the cruise industry, but next time it might be your industry.

DeSantis’ efforts, however, were rejected not only by officials in the Biden administration, but also within the cruise industry.

Earlier this month, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings filed a lawsuit against the state’s surgeon general over his ban on vaccine passports. The court challenge, the company said, was a “last resort” effort to try to prevent the state from implementing the ban.

“An abnormal and ill-advised intrusion threatens to spoil NCLH’s careful planning and force it to cancel or obstruct upcoming cruises, thus endangering and altering passenger experiences and inflicting irreparable damage of vast dimensions,” said the company said at the time.

The editorial board of the Miami Herald, one of the state’s largest newspapers, also did not mince words in a scathing article aimed at the governor on Monday, calling his recent vow to continue the legal battle “bad.” look “as COVID-19 infections are on the rise in the state.

Maybe DeSantis was able to erase those horrific days of 2020 when cruise ships with infected passengers were turned away from ports around the world as those on board suffered and died. Well, we didn’t, “the board wrote, calling it” even more infuriating “given that” cruise lines like Norwegian actually agree with the rules. “

“The governor must have a fun definition of victory if it is to bring more COVID to Florida. As for the CDC, well, it does not seem to us that the agency is the one dictating here, ”he added.



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