Senate blocks funds for enforcing mask mandate in amendment to spending measure

The Senate voted to include an amendment offered by Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) to ban the Department of Transportation from using federal funding to enforce mask mandates in the upper chamber’s three-bill spending package on Wednesday.

The Senate voted 59-38 in favor of the amendment that aims to prevent federal mask mandates on all modes of transportation through Fiscal Year 2024, with nearly a dozen Democrats voting with Republicans in favor of it on Wednesday afternoon.

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Many red-state Democrats up for reelection in 2024 voted for the measure, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Jon Tester (D-MT).

“Democrats insist mask mandates are never coming back,” Vance said in a statement ahead of the vote.  “Well, I’ve got an amendment that will prohibit the Department of Transportation from enforcing mask mandates on public transit. If what Democrats say is true, they should have no problem voting for it.”

The amendment is similar to a bill Vance introduced in September, which would have prohibited the reinstatement of federal mask mandates in the United States. The legislation was more wide-ranging and attempted to ensure no federal entities, commercial airlines, or public schools brought back the mandates in the future.

The Senate is working through voting on 41 amendments to the $280 billion package that would fund the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, the Food and Drug Administration, and military construction. Lawmakers reached an agreement on Tuesday to bring the long-awaited minibus, which combines three of the 12 appropriations bills that fund the government, up for amendment votes this week.

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Top Senate Appropriators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are working to pass the package of bills, including nine other fiscal 2024 funding bills, in an effort to influence the process as the upper Chamber is likely to grapple with a broader funding standoff with House Republicans.

Congress is facing another government shutdown deadline of Nov. 17, and talks are already underway surrounding the need for another continuing resolution to extend current funding levels in an effort to buy more time for negotiations.