The U.S. Senate this week passed a resolution to terminate the national emergency declared in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic, but 37 Democrats voted against it.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) had proposed the bill for a second time in September, shortly after President Joe Biden told CBS News in an interview that the pandemic was “over.” The White House quickly walked back Biden’s comments and Dr. Anthony Fauci, in charge of the virus response, said no, it’s not over.
But for most Americans, it’s over. We all realize COVID will be around for years — maybe forever — and we’re just going to have to live with it.
Most of the Senate believes that, too.
Marshall’s resolution to end the national emergency passed the Senate 61-37 on Tuesday, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans. Two Democrats were absent and didn’t vote.
The senator said in a speech on the Senate floor that the national emergency has been in effect too long and has taken a dramatic toll on Americans.
“Congress must take the responsible action of reining in this massive expansion of government and restore Americans fundamental rights by terminating the COVID-19 national emergency declaration,” Marshall said. “As to the elements to the pandemic response that are working and needed, let’s codify them into law.”
The measure needs to pass both chambers to reach the president’s desk, but President Joe Biden has vowed to veto it.
“Preserving our ability to respond is more important than ever as we head into the winter, when respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 typically spread more easily,” the White House said in a statement. “Strengthened by the ongoing declaration of national emergency, the federal response to COVID-19 continues to save lives, improve health outcomes, and support the American economy.”
Some Democrats, though, backed the resolution.
“When COVID-19 hit, Congress acted with urgency under a number of emergency declarations to provide the flexibilities and funding needed to save lives, roll out a vaccine, and keep our economy afloat,” Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) said. “We’ve come a long way since then, and while it might be easier to kick the can down the road, I think it’s time to have a bipartisan conversation about how we unwind from these emergency actions and move forward with the valuable lessons we’ve learned.”
“Today’s resolution won’t affect critical flexibilities, such as the ones facilitating access to telehealth. Rather, this vote should serve as the beginning of a productive and bipartisan effort to examine which mitigation efforts and flexibilities are worth embedding permanently into our lives, and which are no longer relevant or necessary,” Warner said.
Most Americans are just done with it and acknowledge that the pandemic is waning, according to a recent poll.
“There is bipartisan, majority-level agreement that the coronavirus situation is getting better, with 76% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats saying so,” a Gallup survey found. “Independents also broadly agree that the situation is improving (62%). All three groups have roughly returned to the levels last seen in February and April after cases were down from the January surge in infections.”
But that’s the overall. When the poll is broken down by party, it got scary.
“Americans in all party groups have become more likely to say the pandemic is over since July, including increases of 12 points among Republicans, 14 points among Democrats and 10 points among independents,” Gallup found.
“However, Republicans are the only party with a majority saying the pandemic is over. Republicans are more than three times as likely as Democrats to say this, at 73% vs. 21%, while 48% of independents agree,” the Gallup survey found. “Despite the fact that Biden has said he believes the pandemic is over, a majority of his party’s faithful, 79%, do not concur.”
So, let’s settle this. Democrats, you can keep the COVID pandemic. But for the rest of us, we’re done. We’re going back to living our lives.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.