TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is declaring victory following a long legal battle with President Joe Biden, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the federal lockdown of Florida’s cruise industry. Florida is the top state in the nation for cruises with approximately 159,000 hard-working Floridians who depend on the industry for their livelihoods. Good news for those families—following Attorney General Moody’s relentless legal efforts, Biden’s CDC has allowed the Conditional Sailing Order that shuttered the industry to expire, and now the state is moving to end the litigation.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “As the court said, Biden’s industry-wide shutdown was, ‘breathtaking, unprecedented and acutely and singularly authoritarian.’ Furthermore, his draconian order had a very real impact on thousands of Floridians who were just trying to feed their families. I am proud to stand with Governor DeSantis against the shuttering of our cruise industry, and declare victory over a federal government that has proven time and time again that it has no qualms about exceeding its authority—even when it prevents hundreds of thousands of Americans from working.”
In April 2021, Attorney General Moody filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The complaint argued that the CDC does not possess the authority to issue yearlong nationwide lockdowns of entire industries. The complaint also contended that the CDC’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, and otherwise violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
Last June, the court granted Attorney General Moody a Preliminary Injunction, essentially shutting down the federal government’s unlawful Conditional Sailing Order in the state of Florida.
Florida fought the CDC all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Then, last month, the CDC let the order expire and announced that the order would not be renewed. Additionally, the CDC dismissed its appeal of Florida’s preliminary-injunction motion. Given the federal government’s abandonment of its order, Attorney General Moody today dismissed the matter and issued a statement outlining the legal and practical win for Floridians.
