Next week, House Republicans will take a stand against the overreach of the Biden administration by holding a series of votes aimed at dismantling the COVID emergency that was initially declared by the Trump administration, but has been extended for nearly three years under Biden.
The House Rules Committee, which takes direction from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the scheduling of legislation, will meet Monday to set up floor votes on four pieces of legislation that would eliminate the emergencies that have been maintained by the Biden administration, despite the President’s own statement last year that “the pandemic is over.”
One of the bills is a resolution from Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., which states simply that the national emergency related to COVID is “hereby terminated.”
Gosar has said, “There is no ongoing COVID-19 emergency to justify the continuation of the national emergency declaration. Cases are down and most Americans have returned to a pre-pandemic normalcy.
This hardly sounds like a country under a national emergency, which is why I am calling on my colleagues and Mr. Biden to reverse course and move to give the People back their say in government.”
Another bill is the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems Act, or the SHOW UP Act. Under this bill from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., all federal agencies would be required to insist on the return of federal workers to their offices and restore the telework policies that were in place before the COVID pandemic. Agencies would also be required to assess how much the massive expansion of telework affected the ability of federal workers to do their jobs.
Comer has said, “President Biden’s unnecessary expansion of telework crippled the ability of departments and agencies to fulfill their responsibilities and created cumbersome backlogs. The federal government exists to serve the American people and these substantial delays for basic services are unacceptable.”
The third bill is the Pandemic is Over Act, from Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. This bill holds that the public health emergency declared by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 31, 2020, is terminated.
Guthrie has said, “It is long overdue for President Biden to end the COVID-19 public health emergency and relinquish the emergency powers that he just renewed again. President Biden’s inaction and lack of transparency on this are unacceptable.”
House lawmakers will also take up the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, from Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., which prohibits HHS from implementing its regulation that requires federal healthcare workers to be vaccinated.
Duncan has said, “No American should ever be forced to choose between the COVID shot or losing their livelihood. Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is unscientific, un-American, and deeply damaging to healthcare workers as we already face a nationwide staff shortage.”
It is clear that these bills are a stand against the overreach of the Biden administration and a push to give power back to the people. The American people should not be held hostage by a government that refuses to let go of emergency powers and is more focused on their own agenda.
It’s time for the Biden administration to end this COVID emergency and restore freedom to the American people. These bills are expected to pass the GOP-led House, but will face significant opposition from the Democrat-led Senate. It’s time for the Democrats to stop standing in the way of progress and start standing with the American people.
