Biden Administration Admits It Will End COVID Emergency In May, In A Letter Telling Republicans Not To End COVID Emergency

The Biden administration secretly admitted to its intention to end the COVID-19 emergency declarations Monday, three years since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of policy. It stated that it would file one more extension of the national and emergency declarations of public and national health on April 11. These would then be terminated one month later on May 11. This memo is in response two Congress bills that would force them to cease.

“The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were declared by the Trump Administration in 2020,” OMB claimed in its Statement. “They are currently set to expire on March 1 and April 11, respectively. At present, the Administration’s plan is to extend the emergency declarations to May 11, and then end both emergencies on that date. This wind-down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the PHE.”

“To be clear, continuation of these emergency declarations until May 11 does not impose any restriction at all on individual conduct with regard to COVID-19.,” OMB continued. “They do not impose mask mandates or vaccine mandates. They do not restrict school or business operations. They do not require the use of any medicines or tests in response to cases of COVID-19.”

However, the policy was announced in a statement designed to criticize two House of Representatives bill that would stop emergency declarations by using force. The first was H.R. 382, a.k.a. The ‘‘Pandemic is Over Act,” was introduced by Kentucky Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie; it would terminate the public health emergency. The second, House Joint Resolution 7, was authored by Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar; it would terminate the national emergency.

In its statement, the White House railed against the two bills. First, the White House claimed that terminating the Declaration would create chaos in the health care system. Ending the public health emergency would jeopardize Medicaid funding given to states by abruptly ending provisions passed by Congress, the OMB memo argued.

Furthermore, the OMB argued that ending the emergency would create chaos in hospitals and nursing homes by doing away with the flexibilities from the pandemic, disrupting care, delaying payments, and costing facilities money. Ending the emergency would also jeopardize telehealth services, the office claimed.

Second, the end of the public health emergency will end Title 42. The administration is still trying to end the policy that allows border agents to turn migrants away on an expedited basis, but it was stopped by the Supreme Court. “[I]f H.R. 382
becomes law and the Title 42 restrictions end precipitously, Congress will effectively be requiring the Administration to allow thousands of migrants per day into the country immediately without the necessary policies in place,” the policy memo argued.

“The Administration strongly opposes enactment of H.R. 382 and H.J. Res. 7, which would be a grave disservice to the American people,” the OMB concluded.

The Biden administration has struggled to put forth a consistent message since President Joe Biden declared that “the pandemic is over” in a 60 Minutes interview in September. Last week, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated that the pandemic is not yet over. “COVID isn’It’s over. We’ve been very clear about that,” Jean-Pierre said at a briefing Tuesday. “Hundreds of Americans are dying every day and cases are increasing right now today. That’s why we take common sense measures like COVID testing ahead of large indoor gatherings at the White House.”

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