President Joe Biden has ended the national emergency for COVID-19 more than three years after its implementation.
Biden signed House Joint Resolution 7, authored by Representative Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., which was adopted by the Senate in March with bipartisan support. The bill terminated the emergency order that was declared by former President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020.
The national emergency allowed the federal government to have additional authority to respond to COVID-19 and support the country’s economic, health, and welfare systems.
Though the Biden administration had planned to allow the order to end on its expiration date of May 11, the president also stated that he would sign legislation that came to his desk, despite his personal opposition to ending the national emergency on an earlier date.
H.J. Res. 7 was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 220-210 vote across party lines and made its way through the Senate by a 68-23 vote with over 20 Democrats supporting the legislation.
