"Battle Over Menthol and Flavored Tobacco Bans: FDA, Biden, and Big Tobacco Clash"

A top Biden administration health official, Robert Califf, is privately urging allies to lobby the White House to ban menthol cigarettes nationwide, fearing that President Biden may avoid the proposal to appease Black voters. Califf has faced pushback from influential Black allies who warn that outlawing menthol cigarettes could worsen overpolicing and hurt Biden's standing among Black voters. The FDA finalized its policy banning menthol cigarettes last October, but the White House has yet to give it the green light. Califf has enlisted support internally and externally, but the final decision rests with Biden and his top advisers.