Jun 17, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Face masks will no longer be required for White House staff

Jacob Knutson

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in a press conference on June 17. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

White House staff will be recommended, but no longer required to wear a face mask while traveling through the West Wing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a briefing on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The White House required masks for staff members in May after multiple people tested positive for the coronavirus, including Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, and Trump's personal valet.

The big picture: Some states' requirements that face masks be worn in public may have led to hundreds of thousands of fewer coronavirus cases than there would have been without the mandates, according to a study in Health Affairs.

And yet wearing masks has become a political touchpoint in the culture war over containing the coronavirus.
76% of Democrats say they wear a mask when leaving home, compared to 59% of Republicans, according to a poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Go deeper: Trump campaign says all Tulsa rally attendants will be provided with masks

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Face masks will no longer be required for White House staff

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