Biden Signs Republican Bill To End Pandemic Emergency

President Joe Biden signed a Republican-authored bill on Monday, ending the national emergency declared in response to COVID-19, a month earlier than planned by his administration.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R., Ariz) in January, and its effectiveness had an immediate impact on the national emergency, which granted the government sweeping powers to respond to the pandemic that started over three years ago. Biden had indicated that the emergency would end in May, coinciding with the scheduled lapse of a separate public health emergency, which will still remain in place, until May 11.

Biden was against ending the emergency early, but he did not veto the legislation, which passed mostly along party lines in the House and was approved by nearly two dozen Democrats in the Senate. The administration has started to roll back powers that were previously authorized through the emergency, such as mortgage forbearance through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and not requiring home visits for determination of care requirements through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The end of the separate public health emergency will have more far-reaching ramifications, including the end of Title 42, an immigration rule set up during the Trump era, which allowed border officials to turn migrants away because of the pandemic. President Biden has proposed a policy to replace the rule, which bars migrants who had first passed through another country. However, immigration experts warn that the policy has loopholes that negate much of its desired impact.

Biden’s decision to end the national emergency comes as Republicans initiate investigations into how the administration handled the pandemic over the last three years. Anthony Fauci, the former White House medical adviser, is likely to face investigations following reports that he promoted a study that tried to disprove COVID’s lab leak theory, while concealing his role in commissioning it. The Biden Energy Department now reports that the pandemic probably originated from a lab leak.