The national emergency in the United States to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Monday after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan legislative resolution to end it after three years, just weeks after it expired along with a health emergency. public implemented separately.
The national emergency allowed the government to take radical measures to deal with the coronavirus and provide support to the country’s economic, health and welfare systems. Some of the emergency measures have already been successfully dismantled, while others continue to be phased out. The public health emergency — which underpins strict immigration restrictions on the border with Mexico — is scheduled to end on May 11.
The White House issued a one-liner Monday saying Biden had signed the measure behind closed doors, after he publicly opposed the resolution, though not to the extent of vetoing it. More than 197 House Democrats voted against it when the Republican-controlled House passed it in February. After the measure passed the Senate last month with a vote of 68-23, Biden let lawmakers know he would sign the bill.
Once it became clear that Congress was taking steps to expedite the end of the national emergency, the administration said it worked to speed agencies’ preparations to return to normal procedures. The changes include that the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s COVID mortgage moratorium program will expire at the end of May, and that the Department of Veterans Affairs will once again require in-person home visits to determine if the person is eligible for assisted care.
Last year, lawmakers extended the remote health flexibilities that were implemented with the arrival of COVID-19 for two more years, prompting health systems across the country to regularly provide care via smartphones or computers.
