Senate votes to end Covid national emergency

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1641233201308786690?s=19

Biden has indicated he will not veto it.

[Horus]

Kudos to my senators for voting yea here. The 23 Democrats who voted no should be embarrassed. Just pathetic hypochondria and hard headedness on their part.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

1,112 days to slow the spread

[Make America Grumpy Again]

I'm not opposed to this. The vaccine is available to anyone who wants it and nobody to my knowledge is banning people from wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so. My biggest concern is that I hope that employers/schools will continue to be accommodating to those who are immunocompromised but I suppose the government doesn't have to get involved in that area. I also hope that any vaccine mandates will end along with the stroke of his pen.

[SnowLabrador]

Today is a dark day for anyone who cares about public health. The pandemic is not over until the WHO says it's over.

[President Johnson]

I support this.

The pandemic itsself is pretty much over and has turned into an endemic situation that no longer poses a general risk. All measures like masks should be voluntary now, though testing should continue to a certain level to track the virus and its mutations. People should still be encouraged to voluntarily get vaccinated.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

more Democrats voted for it in the Senate than in the House when it passed there last month.

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023104

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00080.htm

[Bootes Void]

About time it should have happend. I wonder why the 22 dems opposed.

Today is a dark day for anyone who cares about public health. The pandemic is not over until the WHO says it's over.

Even if you trust the WHO(despite their corruption, blatant incompetence and questionable conflicts of interests), why would you ever have an international organization override your national sovereignty of governance?

[TheReckoning]

Should’ve been done back in the summer of 2021 honestly

[Unbeatable Titan Susan Collins]

more Democrats voted for it in the Senate than in the House when it passed there last month.

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023104

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00080.htm

2nd vote where Biden screwed house Democrats by not saying he won't veto until later.

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

more Democrats voted for it in the Senate than in the House when it passed there last month.

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023104

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00080.htm

An odd mixture that doesn't really break down on ideological or factional lines.

[Lief 🗽]

Wonderful news! President Biden deserves incredible credit for ending the covid pandemic and opening America up again, after Trump shut it down.

[Make America Grumpy Again]

Wonderful news! President Biden deserves incredible credit for ending the covid pandemic and opening America up again, after Trump shut it down.

It wasn't Trump but rather blue-state governors that shut it down. Biden doesn't deserve credit for this anymore than Trump deserves credit for the fastest economic recovery in history because more jobs opened up once the restrictions were loosened.

[Hermit For Peace]

Good. We sure went through an experience with that pandemic, didn't we?

[Blue3]

He already said it was ending May 11th.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

more Democrats voted for it in the Senate than in the House when it passed there last month.

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023104

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00080.htm

An odd mixture that doesn't really break down on ideological or factional lines.

At least in the House, they all strike me as "moderates" of one kind or another except for Gallego, who has a Senate election to win in what's still not a great state for Democrats structurally. But that leaves the question open of why, say, Cuellar or Bishop or Lynch voted against it.

[dead0man]

so brave

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

more Democrats voted for it in the Senate than in the House when it passed there last month.

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023104

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00080.htm

An odd mixture that doesn't really break down on ideological or factional lines.

At least in the House, they all strike me as "moderates" of one kind or another except for Gallego, who has a Senate election to win in what's still not a great state for Democrats structurally. But that leaves the question open of why, say, Cuellar or Bishop or Lynch voted against it.

And yet Josh Gottheimer voted no.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

FWIW Biden had already all but said he was going to let the emergency expire in May anyway. Moving the timeline up a few weeks does not really make a huge difference.

[Sir Mohamed]

FWIW Biden had already all but said he was going to let the emergency expire in May anyway. Moving the timeline up a few weeks does not really make a huge difference.

Yup, though a veto is likely being overridden anyway. So why risking to have a 50% override statistic already?

It's for sure appropriate to end the national emergency now as Covid no longer is one. It's past the acute pandemic phase.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Today is a dark day for anyone who cares about public health. The pandemic is not over until the WHO says it's over.

Today is a dark day for anyone who cares about public health. The pandemic is not over until the WHO says it's over.

Strictly speaking, the Senate didn't say the pandemic was over. It said that the COVID national emergency was over. There's a difference, since the first refers to a global health situation and the second to national political measures adressing that situation within the boundaries of a specific country. It's always a political decision to say that there's currently no need to address it through government measures.

[Ron DeSantis enthusiast]

One year and a half late, but better late than never.

[politicallefty]

I support this.

The pandemic itsself is pretty much over and has turned into an endemic situation that no longer poses a general risk. All measures like masks should be voluntary now, though testing should continue to a certain level to track the virus and its mutations. People should still be encouraged to voluntarily get vaccinated.

Virtually everything is voluntary already anyway. The emergency measures in place have helped a lot of people tremendously. It's easy for you to say from a country that has universal healthcare. The Medicaid rolls are going to be slashed. It also means that the vaccines are not automatically free. You're now at the whim of your health insurance provider. If they aren't going to pay for the vaccine or if you're uninsured or underinsured, it'll be like $110-130 out of pocket. Good luck getting the average American to pay for that.

There was a mild expansion of the welfare state with the COVID emergency. You can be sure that the right-wing wants to stop that as soon as possible.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We are in a post Covid world just like Post Great Recession inequality is greatest before the COVID world 65M in Poverty and 750K homeless persons that's why we need to stick with D's, RS believe in entitlements cuts not just cut the increase but eliminate programs like Student loans Forgiveness no 20K

[Hammy]

A huge downside people are missing with this, is it means a ton of people are going to start getting kicked off Medicaid in the coming months.