In an effort to force the administration to act, three anti-tobacco public health groups on Tuesday sued the Food and Drug Administration and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.   

Health officials initially targeted last August to publish the rule to ban menthol. But at the end of last year, the Biden administration delayed the ban until March after fierce lobbying from critics — including the tobacco industry — seemingly spooked the White House that such a move could anger Black smokers and harm President Biden’s reelection chances.  

“Because of Defendants’ inaction, tobacco companies have continued to use menthol cigarettes to target youth, women, and the Black community — all to the detriment of public health,” the groups said in their complaint, which was filed in the Northern District of California.   

The March deadline was a regulatory one rather than legislative or legal, which experts said means there’s no real pressure on the administration to act right away.  

The Office of Management and Budget declined to comment on a rule that’s still under review.   

Recently, public health groups have been trying to show the White House that a menthol ban will save Black lives, rather than alienate Black voters. 

“The relentless and racist tobacco industry targeting has killed too many members of the Black community,” Carol McGruder, Co-Chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and one of the groups that’s a party to the lawsuit, said in a statement. “If Black lives truly matter, then we must end the sale of menthol cigarettes and do it now!” 

The same three groups first sued the agency over menthol in 2020, saying the FDA had “unreasonably delayed” action on a ban.   

The groups voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit when the FDA finally proposed a rule in 2022. But when the March deadline passed, the groups decided they needed to act again.