This week, President Joe Biden announced he would stop extending the national COVID emergency on May 11. However, many critics say that’s too far off — the pandemic is over.
These same critics say the government only wants to extend the emergency declaration for the sake of holding onto control. They claim there’s not enough medical evidence to support the emergency anymore.
And now, the House of Representatives is standing up against Biden.
Immediately after the President’s May 11 announcement, multiple politicians – and medical experts – pushed back against it, saying there’s every reason to end it all right now.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy put forward the bill that said the national emergency should end immediately, and the proposal quickly gained plenty of support.
When it came time to vote, though, some wondered if enough Democrats would be on board. They also wondered if all House Republicans would vote for the measure, so the issue was up in the air.
But the vote has gone through and as it turns out, the majority is against Biden.
From Fox news:
The House on Tuesday ignored opposition from President Joe Biden and voted to end the public health emergency related to COVID-19, winning some support from House Democrats on a second bill that would end the government’s requirement that federal health care workers must be vaccinated against COVID.
These two bills passed easily: the Pandemic is Over Act and the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act. They passed despite heavy opposition by the White House.
The Pandemic is Over Act ends the public health emergency, and that passed by a 220-210 vote — every Republican voted for it and every Democrat voted against it.
But interestingly enough, more than a few Democrats were on board with the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, which ends the vaccination requirement for federal healthcare employees.
That one passed by a 227-203 count, which meant that many left-wing politicians defied Biden and their party in general.
This is a reflection of Democrats shifting away from Biden in regards to the COVID state of emergency. While many are still all for it, there are several who don’t believe the emergency should continue.
For example, even before Republicans seized control of the House, the chamber passed a bill that ended the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate (by an easy 350-80 vote).
Unfortunately, it’s likely that President Biden will veto at least one of the bills, even if they passed through the Senate. The White House statement reads:
While COVID-19 is no longer the disruptive threat that it once was, it makes no sense for Congress to reverse this protection for vulnerable patients, as well as our health care workers who have given so much to protect us.
The White House added that if the Public Health Emergency (PHE) were ended, it would “sow confusion and chaos into this critical wind-down.”
They further claim that “tens of millions of Americans could be at risk of abruptly losing their health insurance, and states could risk losing billions of dollars in funding.”
Critics don’t buy either excuse, however, and point toward the statistics surrounding the waning pandemic. Then there’s the lingering Constitutional concerns that have been a concern since Day One.
But at least in this case, all Republicans and some Democrats are against the Biden administration. Which is something of a rarity in Washington these days.
Key Takeaways:
- The House approved 2 bills that would put an end to the national COVID emergency declaration.
- One bill ends the Public Health Emergency (PHE) and the other ends the vaccination mandate for federal healthcare workers.
- Some Democrats voted to end the federal mandate, defying the White House’s opposition.
Source: Fox News
