WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – President Joe Biden has threatened to veto a resolution to formally end the federal state of emergency (SOE) for COVID-19, following a narrow Senate victory for the measure.
On January 14, the Biden administration issued a 90-day extension to the SOE, allowing for the continuation of various executive actions and federal spending pertaining to the pandemic. A month later, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a resolution to end it, arguing that “with COVID cases and hospitalizations on the decline, 94 percent of Americans having immunity to COVID, mask mandates falling by the wayside, and 70 percent of Americans agreeing ‘it’s time we accept that COVID is here to stay’ and that ‘we just need to get on with our lives,’ it’s clear we need new approach to COVID as we learn to live with it.”
Politico reports that the Senate voted 48-47 to approve the resolution along party lines Thursday, with Republicans invoking a provision of the National Emergencies Act to pass it via simple majority.
“The robust powers this 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,” Marshall argued on the Senate floor.
In response, the White House declared that it “strongly opposes Senate Joint Resolution 38,” claiming it would “unnecessarily and abruptly curtail the ability of the Administration to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic” and vowing to veto it should it reach Biden’s desk.
It’s unlikely the measure would get that far, however, since it would first have to pass the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. Further, Republicans lack the congressional votes to override a presidential veto.
That said, a House vote could be closer than many suspect, given Democrats’ recent backtracking from the heavy-handed COVID policies of the last two years.
In recent months, administration members and their allies have begun to concede several claims they had previously deemed “misinformation.” In January, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention abruptly halved its recommended isolation period for the COVID-infected. White House COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted “if you look at the children who are hospitalized, many of them are hospitalized with COVID, as opposed to because of COVID.” Former U.S. Food & Drug Administration commissioner (and current Pfizer board member) Scott Gottlieb admitted that “cloth masks aren’t gonna provide a lot of protection.” More recently, Democrat consultants have privately urged the party to distance themselves from lockdowns, advice taken by various governors and mayors across the country.
Many of the policies championed by Democrats to curb COVID have proven to be either ineffective or counterproductive, including lockdowns, masking, and promotion of COVID vaccines. Meanwhile, approximately $740 billion in previously approved COVID emergency spending remains unused.
While the president’s efforts to force Americans to take COVID shots have been met with legal setbacks, he has signaled that he isn’t giving up yet.
“We will never give up on vaccinating more Americans,” Biden declared during his State of the Union address this week. “We will continue vaccinating the world. We’ve sent 475 million vaccine doses to 112 countries, more than any other nation. And we won’t stop.”