Biden administration delays plan to ban menthol cigarettes again

Top health official gives no timeline for issuing rule, saying administration taking more time to consider feedback

For the second time in recent months, the Joe Biden White House has delayed a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a decision that is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections.

In a statement Friday, the president’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups.