Florida Withholds Federal Grant Money From 2 Counties for Mask Mandates

Families protest mask mandates before the Hillsborough County Schools Board meeting held at the district office in Tampa, Florida, on July 27, 2021. Octavio Jones/Getty Images

The Florida Department of Education withheld more than $600,000 this month from two counties that are openly defying the state’s restriction on blanket mask mandates.

The move is in open defiance of the Biden administration, which had warned in a letter on Monday that the federal government “is prepared to initiate enforcement action to stop these impermissible state actions.”