Senate Republicans successfully passed a resolution to end the national state of emergency declaration from 2020 set in response to the coronavirus pandemic amid growing sentiment among the public that it’s time to accept the virus as part of the new normal.
The resolution to end the pandemic emergency declaration passed by a vote of 48 to 47 along party lines after Democrats, who need Vice President Kamala Harris to break ties in the 50-50 Senate, failed to get enough members to stop it. The measure is not expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House in order to make it to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.
“The American people are worn out and yearning to be free,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican who is leading the measure. “The robust powers emergency declaration provides the federal government are no longer necessary, and Congress must debate and ultimately repeal them in order to begin the process of unwinding the powers the government took hold of during the peak of the crisis.”
The pandemic state of emergency was put in place in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump to confront the rising threat of COVID-19. The national emergency designation is powered by a law known as the National Emergencies Act, which grants the president expanded authority to deal with crises other than natural disasters and war.
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The majority of the public is ready to wind down the state of emergency in favor of a return to normalcy with the understanding that the coronavirus will not just go away. The Biden administration has taken a similar position, a reversal from early promises to eradicate COVID-19.
Biden revealed a new preparedness plan ahead of his State of the Union address on Tuesday that aims to better surveil for future variants, boost test supplies, and prevent further economic and school shutdowns. The Democratic Party’s recent amenability to loosening mask mandates has put them more in line with Republicans, who spurned mask mandates and restrictions even before the omicron variant overtook delta late last year.
The Senate voted Wednesday on another measure introduced by Marshall that would nix the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers whose employers receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid.
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It passed by a vote of 49 to 44, largely due to Democrats not voting. Noting the unlikelihood of the House to approve the measure, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said before the Thursday resolution’s vote that if it were to pass, “it’s going nowhere.”
