Posted on 01/18/2023 9:35:11 AM PST by lightman
House Republicans on Tuesday introduced legislation to end the COVID-19 public health emergency, coming about three years after it was implemented nationwide.
On Jan. 11, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed that it would again extend the health emergency for another 90 days, according to a declaration issued by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. The emergency has been renewed about a dozen times since it was implemented under the Trump administration in early 2020.
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) proposed ending the emergency declaration, again putting more pressure on the Biden administration to rescind the measure. If it passes through Congress, it’s likely President Joe Biden would attempt to veto the bill.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over,” Guthrie wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “It’s long overdue to end the COVID-19 [public health emergency] and for President Biden to relinquish his emergency powers.”
The bill, titled the “Pandemic Is Over Act,” stipulates that HHS “shall terminate on the date of enactment of this Act.” About three months ago, Biden told a “60 Minutes” reporter that he believes “the pandemic is over,” prompting White House officials to scramble to clarify his stance.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over,” Guthrie said in a statement. “Despite President Biden admitting this in September, his administration just authorized the 12th extension of the COVID-19 public health emergency. It is long overdue for President Biden to end the COVID-19 public health emergency and relinquish the emergency powers that he just renewed again.”
The White House, he said, has engaged in a “lack of transparency” over the emergency extensions. “I introduced the Pandemic Is Over Act to prevent any more delays by forcing the Biden administration to finally release and execute a plan that my House Republican colleagues and I have been repeatedly pressing for to unwind the [public health emergency],” the lawmaker said.
The bill may see some success in the Senate, where some Democrats joined Republicans in voting to approve a similar piece of legislation in December to end the federal emergency. Biden said he would veto that bill if it reaches his desk.
“It has now been more than 2 1/2 years since this first-issued proclamation declaring the national emergency concerning declaration and been extended twice by President Biden since the initial declaration, most recently February [2022],” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who sponsored the Senate resolution, said during floor remarks at the time. Emergency Renewed
On Jan. 11, Becerra issued a declaration saying that “after consultation with public health officials as necessary,” the White House decided the renew the emergency. The emergency primarily impacts the U.S. health care system, providing health insurance coverage protection for millions, giving hospitals more resources, and more telehealth services.
“The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remains in effect, and as HHS committed to earlier, we will provide a 60-day notice to states before any possible termination or expiration,” a spokesperson for HHS told media outlets. Based on Becerra’s declaration and the spokesperson’s public statements, it is not clear when the emergency will end.
However, unnamed Biden administration officials told Politico and other news outlets last week that they are aiming to end the emergency in the spring of 2023. The Epoch Times could not immediately verify those reports, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
About two-dozen Republican governors, meanwhile, called on the Biden administration to rescind (pdf) the COVID-19 emergency in a December letter. The reason why it should end, they argued, is because the emergency places undue financial strain on states due to its expansion of Medicaid coverage.
The health emergency, the letter said, is “negatively affecting states, primarily by artificially growing our population covered under Medicaid … regardless of whether individuals continue to be eligible under the program.”
“States are required to increase our non-federal match to adequately cover all enrollees,” they said, “and cannot disenroll members from the program unless they do so voluntarily.”
In mid-December, the White House released its “COVID-19 Winter Preparedness Plan” that would make more COVID-19 test kits freely available. Administration officials also again recommended Americans get the vaccine and boosters.
Compared with the past several winters, COVID-19 cases in December 2022 and January 2023 appear to have sharply declined, according to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Jan. 11. In mid-January 2022, CDC data showed that there were more than 5 million weekly COVID-19 cases, but for the week of Jan. 11, 2023, only about 414,000 weekly cases have been reported.
Who will believe the criers when a REAL lethal pathogen appears?
Not good enough. The bill needs to make it law that no Executive has emergency powers for more than 72 hours.
Thank you for your input. Now put your masks back on.
The real question is, will we get right of action against the SOBs who closed our schools and other public accomodations to the un-vaxxed?
Stealing tax money and hiding behind EUAs needs to have penalties.
With these realities, what tools/powers does our republican House have that can "get over" RINOs and a democrat Senate and President? Serious question.
How can it be an emergency if the Fed Gov refuses to pay for Covid testing? It’s 100% a power grab only.
They need to tie all these bills to the debt ceiling. Each one that passes the Senate and Joe signs gets a little more debt ceiling relief.
Any future emergencies should be declared only by Congress and passed as a law that includes an expiration date. The establishment deep state should have no such power. This goes for any so-called emergency. My congresscritter would hear from me as a hard no on every so-called emergency. It’s not a federal problem to be used to redistribute wealth, whether an earthquake in Cali or a Super Storm in Jersey. Those are the risks living in those places. Flooding is a risk near I live, but I intentionally chose not to live in a flood plain. I don’t expect my tax dollars to bail out those that chose poorly and certainly people in CA and NJ shouldn’t have their tax dollars bail out flood victims in PA.
Any Dumb Village Idiot bills in honor of their U.S. Senator?
it would be nice if they will end all of
“the war on’s ....”
There HAS to be some sort of emergency funding mechanisms that go along with any “declared War on..” or State of emergency mechanisms.
So, will the Senate agree? Will the President sign the bill? If he Vetoes the bill, can the veto be overridden?
what tools/powers does our republican House have that can “get over” RINOs and a democrat Senate and President? Serious question.
/\
None.
But that’s not the value of it.
The value is it forces everyone’s cards on the table for everyone to see
Who are Rinos
Who are the unameri an dems are
It keeps them tied up using their time on defense and less time consolidating their coup and screwing our nation further.
The untrialed covid injections depend on there being an EUA…as in “ emergency”
Looking around in public…it’s over.
Masks are few. Distancing..gone.
Was over in Europe by last summer.
"House Republicans Introduce Bill to ‘Terminate’ COVID-19 Health Emergency"
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument
If this were a better world, all that it would take to terminate so-called federal CV19 health emergency is the following imo.
All that one MAGA Republican needs to do to effectively exercise majority power on this issue is to stand up and point out that the states have never expressly constitutionally given the feds the specific power to dictate peacetime INTRAstate healthcare policy.
”State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress [emphases added].” —Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
"Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States." —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
"They form a portion of that immense mass of legislation, which embrace every thing in the territory of a state not surrendered to the general government. Inspection laws, quarantine laws, and health laws, as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a state, and others, which respect roads, fences, &c. are component parts of state legislation, resulting from the residuary powers of state sovereignty. No direct power over these is given to congress, and consequently they remain subject to state legislation [emphases added], though they may be controlled by congress, when they interfere with their acknowledged powers." —Justice Joseph Story, Article I, Section 10, Clause 2, 1833.
"From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added]." —United States v. Butler, 1936.
What MAGA Republicans really need to do to help "street-fighter" Trump 47 finish draining the swamp is the following.
The MAGA-controlled House desparately needs to introduce a resolution for Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution to the states that is strictly limited to repealing the 16th (direct taxes) and 17th Amendments (popular voting for federal senators) (16&17A), little or ideally no discussion required for such an amendment imo.
Repealing 16&17A would effectively "secede" ALL the states from the unconstitutionally big federal government imo.
Although such a resolution is doomed with gridlocked Congress (where are the states?), what patriots initially get out of a repeal 16&17A resolution is seeing more masks fall off remaining RINO lawmakers who vote against resolution that patriots can primary in 2024.
“So, will the Senate agree? Will the President sign the bill? If he Vetoes the bill, can the veto be overridden?”
Absolutely not. And they know this. I am personally tired of them insulting my intelligence with this impossible BS. They need to concentrate on what they CAN do. Two years comes fast, and they are going to screw them off trying to BS us with these charades.
“The value is it forces everyone’s cards on the table for everyone to see”
Which accomplishes exactly what? It will change absolutely nothing and make no difference. They will continue on unchecked, business as usual.
Not falling for it. For the next two years the House GOP-E will act like a conservative’s wet dream but if or when the get back the White House and Senate, they will revert to their “assistant Democrat” roles.
Care you say healthcare reform, build the wall, balance the budget, etc
Of course you could.
Agreed. Talk about a band-aid.
They have recognized the disease - tyrannical fed behavior under Trump and Biden.
But have proposed nothing to avoid a relapse.
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