Watch CBS News

CDC's Cruise Safety Regulations Thrown Out By Federal Court, Delivering Victory For Gov. Ron DeSantis

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Federal district court delivered a victory for Governor Ron DeSantis against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Tampa Judge Stephen Merryday concluded the CDC's restrictions regarding cruising are likely unconstitutional and overstepping their legal authority.

"The CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it," said Governor Ron DeSantis. "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."

The court ruled the following:
• The CDC cannot discriminately keep children and families from cruising;
• Neither the CDC, nor any federal agency, can require a vaccine passport; and
• The CDC must create an actual framework for businesses to resume operations, rather than forcing them to conduct burdensome and bureaucratic tests without any standard by which to be measured.

The court also said, "Never has CDC (or a predecessor) detained a vessel for more than fifteen months; never has CDC implemented a widespread or industry-wide detention of a fleet of vessels in American waters; never has CDC condition pratique as extensively and burdensomely as the conditional sailing order; and never has CDC imposed restrictions that have summarily dismissed the effectiveness of state regulation and halted for an extended time an entire multi-billion dollar industry nationwide. In a word, never has CDC implemented measures as extensive, disabling and exclusive as those under review in this action."

"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 in his ruling.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.