Except that CDC, with Lawyers of their own, included minimum requirements for an acceptable mask in the order, and the thing failed to meet them.
Only one problem, this isn't the CDC, it's the TSA. The mask requirement is stated in Security Directive SD 1582/84-21-01B (bolding mine):
Mask means a material covering the nose and mouth of the wearer, excluding face shields.4
.
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4A properly worn mask completely covers the nose and mouth of the wearer. A mask should be secured to the
head, including with ties or ear loops. A mask should fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face. Masks
do not include face shields. Masks can be either manufactured or homemade and should be a solid piece of material
without slits, exhalation valves, or punctures.
So long as the device being worn meets that stated criteria, the TSA must, by their own rules, allow it. He could have been wearing a used gym sock held on by duct tape insofar as the stated criteria are concerned. Also, "fit snugly" is a subjective criteria. Since there's nothing to quantify what "snugly" actually means, it is essentially unenforceable.
Is the guy pushing boundaries to prove a point. Sure. No argument there. But by appearances his chosen form of mask did meet the criteria. It just goes to illustrate how piss-poor the requirement parameters actually are.
Brad