Here in Missouri, we are fortunate to live in a place where Missourians and our elected officials alike knew the pandemic was over long before the federal government. Life in our state went back to normal relatively quickly compared to other states. Now, the rest of the country has caught on and people are moving on with their lives. Kids are attending school in person, people are going to their usual places of work, and businesses are open and serving their customers.

Americans clearly want to move forward, but this Administration has been sending mixed messages for months so it can spend pandemic money that was allocated for an emergency. Back in September, and coincidentally just before the election, President Biden said himself in an interview, “the pandemic is over.” But on January 23rd, the White House Press Secretary told reporters, “COVID isn’t over. We’ve been very clear about that.” I fail to see the clarity in White House staff contradicting the President’s words, but I’m not surprised by the actions.

As a reminder, in March of 2020 President Trump declared a national emergency to combat COVID. At the time we knew very little about the virus and the government needed to take extraordinary actions to address the threat. Almost three years later we are in a very different place. I can’t imagine you know many people who believe we’re still in an emergency situation. However, the White House has refused to end the emergency. In fact, just this week it was announced that the White House is extending the emergency declaration to May 11th.

While people in DC absolutely live in a bubble, even members of the Administration can clearly see we’re not in an emergency situation. In fact, last Congress the U.S. Senate passed two bipartisan bills to end the national emergency, but then-Speaker Pelosi refused to allow the bills to move through the House. The fact of the matter is, the Administration is using the authority granted by the emergency declaration to force through an agenda it cannot get passed into law. For example, the Administration has said it has the authority to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans because we’re in the middle of a national emergency. As I’ve discussed in previous columns, everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Barack Obama’s Department of Education has confirmed that the President does not have the Constitutional authority to forgive loans, so the White House had to conjure up some sort of justification for its illegal actions. To be clear, the courts have said the national emergency is not a legal justification for loan forgiveness, but it is the only argument – albeit a very weak one – the Administration has.

To combat the flipflopping of the White House and bring some commonsense back to the conversation, House Republicans passed a bill this week called the Pandemic is Over Act. This bill simply reinforced what Americans across the country – and President Biden – already know: the pandemic is over. This bill would repeal the public health emergency that is no longer needed and end the authoritarian policies this Administration and its officials have tried to impose on American families and their freedoms.

Speaking of ending authoritarian policies, the House also passed the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act. This is a bill to get rid of the one-size-fits-all federal vaccine mandate and allows hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical providers to staff their facilities without unnecessary government hurdles. In November of 2021, a rule was established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that required all providers who participate in Medicare and Medicaid to establish a vaccination requirement for staff. A similar rule was put in place for all private entities that contract with the government. This bill would restore our Constitutional rights and allow people to decide for themselves what they inject into their bodies. 

Life in America is back to normal and it’s time the Administration gets on board. The new Republican-led House knows it is time to move on. Emergency declarations are not political tools; they are ways to get our country out of impossibly difficult situations. It would be very helpful if the Biden Administration would abide by that.

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