On Monday, just hours after a federal judge struck down the nationwide public transportation mask mandate, major airlines (and even President Joe Biden’s beloved Amtrak) began telling their passengers they could stop wearing the protective face coverings — sometimes while they had already boarded and taken their assigned seats.

The surprise ruling seems to have caught the White House flat-footed on the question of whether or not to appeal the ruling.

Officially: White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration was “reviewing the decision, and, of course, the Department of Justice would be making any determinations about any litigation.”

Unofficially: The White House is still figuring out what to do next, weighing two very big factors: credibility and politics.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
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