Oregon Gov. Kate Brown was photographed at a Washington, D.C., gala on Saturday while not wearing a mask amid her state's effort to usher in a permanent indoor mask mandate.
The photo was posted Sunday on social media and showed Brown posing for the shot with two other men, one who was the deputy director of operations for Vice President Kamala Harris. All three are not wearing masks in the photo.
OREGON WORKING TO IMPLEMENT INDOOR MASK MANDATE PERMANENTLY
What does it mean when you match with the amazing utterly fabulous and indefatigable champions for equality and progress who are @KateBrownForOR and @davidmgins? Thank you both for evening you do for advancing our communities! pic.twitter.com/LTweoiLrzI
— Manilan Houle (@ManilanH) December 5, 2021
While Oregon has had one of the most aggressive approaches to containing the coronavirus and has an indoor mask mandate, Washington, D.C., where the gala took place, does not have an indoor mask mandate.
The Oregon Health Authority met with a rules advisory committee on Thursday to discuss issuing permanent indoor mask mandates across the state, according to a report.
Dr. Paul Cieslak, the medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations with the OHA, said that making the mandate permanent doesn't necessarily mean it will be instated forever. Instead, he said it means the mandates will be in place indefinitely.
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"Permanent means indefinite. It doesn’t necessarily mean permanent," Cieslak said. "We can repeal it as well, but we are only allowed to have a temporary rule for 180 days, and anything that goes beyond 180 days, we cannot extend it."
The OHA repealed the state's outdoor mask mandate in November but kept in place the indoor mask mandate.
Brown's office did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.