Biden ‘Warning Shot’ on Mask-Mandate Bans Hints at Fights Ahead

The Biden administration is exploring using the courts and federal funding to push states that are against mask mandates, in a sign of flaring tensions between governors and the federal government over how to deal with rising coronavirus cases.

The Education Department announced this week it may launch a civil rights investigation into state policies that prohibit mask requirements in classrooms. The Justice Department could also get involved, including by supporting lawsuits against those states or initiating litigation of its own, education attorneys said.

A faster way to press states may lie in how the Education Department spends stimulus dollars, ...