“The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency’s ‘quarantine powers’ and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.” NYT: White House Blocked C.D.C. From Requiring Masks on Public Transportation. “The order would have mandated that both passengers and employees wear face coverings on planes, trains, buses and subways and in airports, stations and depots.” Why? (Try coming up with an answer to that question that isn’t horrific.)