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Where Things Stand: Airlines Buck Abbott’s Confusing Anti-Mandate Mandate

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks to the press on the grounds of Santa Fe High School on May, 20, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. - Ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun an... Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks to the press on the grounds of Santa Fe High School on May, 20, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. - Ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire at the school on May 18. The gunman, arrested on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He is being held on capital murder charges, meaning he could face the death penalty. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS

October 13, 2021 6:15 p.m.

Two Texas-based airlines plan to follow federal regulations about vaccination mandates, defying the state’s Republican governor’s recent mandate barring such mandates in the Lone Star State.

How many times can we say mandate?

Gov. Greg Abbott’s whole positioning on COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Texas would be amusing if it weren’t so dark. Abbott passed an executive order on Monday, banning “any entity” from adopting vaccine requirements in the state, even if private businesses want to implement them and/or follow federal requirements on vaccinations for employees. His order is hyper-focused on the badness of government mandates, while being a mandate in and of itself.

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