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Hey, what's up? Playbookers on Ragumonovalin. It's Tuesday. Today's big conundrum, should the White House choose credibility or politics. It's your Politico Playbook Daily briefing.

Yesterday, 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 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

Jansaki told reporters the administration was, quote, reviewing the decision, and of course,

the Department of Justice would be making any determinations about any litigation. Un Officially,

the White House is still figuring out what to do

next, weighing two very big factors, credibility, and politics. Just last week, the Biden administration

extended the mandate to May 3rd, a move that Politico's Alex Daughery and Aaron Boncoe report was made,

quote, in the face of increasing opposition from the airline industry, as well as

Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. White House officials have repeatedly stressed

that any further extension of the mask mandate would be made by the CDC. That suggests a few

interesting options for the administration. If the administration doesn't appeal, as a matter of

credibility, it risks hurting the institutional authority of the CDC, which they said would be central to the decision-making process.

It also raises the question of why the administration just re-up the mandate if this was really the policy it wanted.

But politically, it takes a tough issue off the White House's plate.

Democrats have already been moving away from mask mandates for months, saying it's time for folks to get back to normal.

The move by the court makes that decision for them.

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