With Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) abstaining, the Senate ended President Joe Biden’s pandemic emergency on Tuesday night with a bipartisan vote of 62-36. The emergency was extended last month by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), and it will now endure at least through January 11.
Will the Democrats bring it back? Remember, there’s always another election two years away.
Less than a month before to the extension, the president declared that “the pandemic is gone” in an interview with “60 Minutes.”
The Senate voted 62-36 to terminate Biden's COVID National Emergency.
Thank you again for your leadership @RogerMarshallMD!
Will @SpeakerPelosi allow a House vote or will that have to wait for Speaker McCarthy???https://t.co/x33NZJgCRI pic.twitter.com/f0L0s42X2E
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) November 16, 2022
With the exception of Sasse, who abstained, every Republican senator voted to end the emergency, as did 12 Democrats and Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Democratic caucus.
Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), who proposed the resolution on the Senate floor, cited the president’s statements. However, as the senator stressed in his remarks, the problem is not just hypocrisy.
“It was this government imposed state of emergency that justified their continued lockdowns of small businesses and schools… that justified their mask and vaccine mandates, including a military vaccine mandate that has resulted in the removal of more than 8,000 active-duty troops… that justified President Biden and Congressional Democrats spending binge, increasing the total amount of government spending by more than $9 trillion since February 2021 and lighting the fire for record inflation… that the president has used as justification to extend the payment pause and cancel up to $10,000 in outstanding federally held student loan balances, and even a more generous $20,000 for Pell Grant recipient,” Marshall made a point.
“Congress must take the responsible action of reigning in this massive expansion of government and restore Americans fundamental rights by terminating the COVID-19 national emergency declaration,” he said.
Beyond just the White House, there were negative responses that turned out to be rather comical. The senators in question received a tweet from state senator Nina Turner (D-OH), who unsuccessfully sought for Congress on many occasions and couldn’t even get beyond the primary. What she intends to do beyond tweeting “we see you” to them is unclear.
It’s important to note that several records that first appeared to reflect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as having voted in favor were later found to be incorrect.
