Florida Gov. DeSantis wins in lawsuit against CDC over cruise ship rules

Governor Ron DeSantis's office announced the lawsuit victory back on Friday. In it it’s explained that Judge Steven Merryday ruled in favor of the state of Florida in a preliminary injunction against the CDC’s earlier restrictions against the cruise industry.

“When an agency claims to discover in a long-extant statute an unheralded power to regulate ‘a significant portion of the American economy,’ we typically greet its announcement with a measure of skepticism,” said Judge Merryday.

It was determined that the CDC was overstepping their power by impounding sea vessels for over a year with regards to pandemic restrictions. Starting on July 18th the CDC’s orders will be downgraded to “guidance” and cruise ships will be free to hit the waters once more.

In short, the success of vaccines in the United States is cited as an indicator that COVID is on the retreat.

A statement from DeSantis said:

“The CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it. The CDC and the Biden Administration concocted a plan to sink the cruise industry, hiding behind bureaucratic delay and lawsuits. Today, we are securing this victory for Florida families, for the cruise industry, and for every state that wants to preserve its rights in the face of unprecedented federal overreach.”

Page 61 of the court document explains what the CDC order demanded.

"The conditional sailing order prescribes excruciating and extra-regulatory 'measures,' such as the requirement to build laboratories on board; the requirement to contract with customers as well as several public and private entities at ports-of-call; the requirement for pervasive daily testing and reporting; the requirement to conduct self-funded, expensive simulated voyages (or to vaccinate 95% of passengers, including children too young to qualify for vaccination at this time); and the requirement to limit operations after obtaining a conditional sailing certificate."

The CDC tried arguing that cruises “would likely exacerbate and amplify the spread” COVID but didn’t back up their assertion with evidence. On top of that the CDC’s “in-house modeling data” is too secretive to be of any use.

Other moves that the Florida Governor recently made that have earned him the public’s attention include a Big Tech accountability bill, a ban on teaching critical race theory, in addition to a transgender sports regulation measure.