U.S. Department of Education

The U.S. Department of Education dropped a cease-and-desist order after the state returned money it had been withholding from school districts that had since reversed their mask mandates.

The state says recent action by the two counties in the center of the conflict should end the legal battle with the U.S. Department of Education. If it doesn’t, the state will argue its case in court.

During Tuesday's media briefing, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre asked, "why are these legislators, these Republicans ... getting in the way of saving lives,"

The U.S. Department of Education has asked an administrative judge to block the state from slashing federal aid money sent to the Broward and Alachua school districts over their mask mandates.

The state Department of Education has withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding from the districts because of their masking policies, defying warnings from the Biden administration.

The warning is in response to the state saying it would consider preventing federal grant funds from making up money the penalized school boards lost through mask mandate fines.

Florida is the last state to submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Education that's required before more than $2.3 billion in federal aid for Florida schools can be released.

The federal government continues to withhold one-third of the state’s allocation, which amounts to $2.3 billion.

The U.S. Department of Education is sending more than $420,000 to make up for wages the state withheld after the board refused to allow parental opt-outs for masks in schools.

The U.S. Education Department announced Friday that it is investigating Florida over its rules that block local schools districts from enacting student mask mandates.