Samuel Case, FISM News
The Senate voted yesterday to end the COVID-19 national emergency after President Biden signaled that he would not veto the GOP-led measure.
The resolution passed 68-23, with 21 Democrats voting alongside Republicans for the bill. The legislation already passed the House in February 229-197, with 11 Democrats voting with Republicans.
Biden previously threatened to veto the measure, but while the president still objects to it, the White House says he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk.
“The President strongly opposes HJ Res 7, and the administration is planning to wind down the COVID national emergency and public health emergency on May 11,” a White House official said Wednesday per The Hill.
“If this bill comes to his desk, however, he will sign it, and the administration will continue working with agencies to wind down the national emergency with as much notice as possible to Americans who could potentially be impacted.”
In January President Biden announced the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency would officially expire on May 11, nearly three years after then-President Donald Trump enacted a national emergency on March 13, 2020.
Biden said at the time that “an orderly transition” out of the pandemic is “critical to the health and safety of the Nation.”