For most Americans, the true pandemic emergency ended a long time ago. In my own view, it ended in earnest as soon as vaccines were available for all at-risk adults who wanted them. But it is stunning to hear the president admit this reality, even though so many Americans have long since accepted it, because the Biden administration continues to adopt an “emergency” posture in its policies.
Just on July 15, the White House renewed the official “public health emergency” declaration, which gives the federal government sweeping expanded powers and lets them unilaterally spend billions more on welfare, through October 13. And Biden is expected to extend this declaration again through the midterm elections.
This was already unjustifiable, but for him to do anything other than immediately give up all emergency powers—let alone further extend them—would be downright absurd given his comments.
The president literally admitted that the pandemic is over. Surely, then, his need for pandemic emergency powers must be “over” as well?
I don’t want to downplay the fact that several hundred people are still dying from COVID-19 each day in the US. Of course, that’s still a tragedy. But we must face the fact that this is, like many other common illnesses and causes of death, simply a part of life now. If we let the government cling to its “temporary” expanded powers so long as someone, somewhere has COVID, those powers will essentially become permanent. Left or Right, that’s not something anybody who values checks and balances should want.
Plus, Biden continues to use COVID to justify his policy agenda. For example, COVID was specifically the legal grounds the president attempted to use to justify his unconstitutional and unfair taxpayer bailout for student debt. How can Biden say on one hand that COVID is over while actively continuing to use it as an excuse to ram through his policies?