You may not have noticed it, but Joe Biden extended the “National Emergency” over COVID-19 in February.

Donald Trump first declared a “National Emergency” on March 13, 2020. Biden has now extended that same state of emergency twice. As president, all he apparently has to do is announce that he’s extending the emergency, and get it published in the Federal Register.

So how do we get rid of a “National Emergency” when it’s obvious that the “emergency” part has come to an end, when the chief executive likes that sweet rush of authority that it gives him? Congress just has to get off its collective butt and act – something that they’re not much used to doing. It would be great if Congress remembered that it is a “separate and equal” branch of government, right?

Senator Robert Marshall of Kansas, a medical doctor (his biography notes that he is an OB/GYN), has had enough of the “National Emergency” excuse. Even though the odds were low on getting Senate Joint Resolution 38 passed, Senator Marshall pushed forward anyway, and through a technical procedure, got the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Marshall’s entire speech is worth listening to.

“After nearly two years of living under this state of emergency, the American people are worn out and yearning to breathe free; they long for their God-given freedoms, and for leaders to take their side. There is no doubt, it’s time for our nation to learn to live with COVID,” said Sen. Marshall. “I am proud my colleagues came together to repeal this emergency declaration and delivered a symbolic victory to our citizens that normalcy is around the corner and that limited government and our constitutional rights still reign supreme. It’s high time to stop talking about restrictions and the unknown. We must chart a new course to victory today that respects the virus and our freedoms.”

And then the vote was held – and it PASSED by one vote.

The Senate has spoken. We are ready to end the COVID national emergency like more than a majority of Americans. Hope our House colleagues join us in returning the ability to make decisions related to the virus back to the American people. https://t.co/pQSAD4KuTG

— Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) March 3, 2022

However, the vote was a complete party-line vote, and the Democrats (surprise!) are not happy about it. And (double surprise!) if it does manage to pass the House, President Grandpa has already threatened to veto it.

Republicans brought the bill to the floor using a technical process under the National Emergencies Act, which allows for a simple majority floor vote if the committee of jurisdiction fails to take up the bill within two weeks. Given several absences on the Democratic side of the aisle — with some members out sick with Covid and others mourning the death of a relative — the measure was able to pass.”

Democrats blasted the effort as a threat to the country’s ongoing work to contain the pandemic — pointing out that, should the bill become law, it could halt a host of Covid-19-specific policies and protections, from student loan payment relief to looser regulations for telehealth to higher reimbursement rates for health care providers.”

“The best way to ensure that we keep schools open and cases low is by staying at the ready, and that is what these emergency powers enable us to do,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech. “By prematurely terminating the national emergency declaration on COVID, it will be harder to ensure we have enough supplies, enough support for health care workers, and it risks throwing tens of millions of student loan borrowers into needless uncertainty and anxiety.”

The White House on Thursday pledged to veto the bill if it reached Biden’s desk, calling the GOP attempt to terminate the pandemic emergency declaration “a reckless and costly mistake.”

In other words, the Democrats want the gravy train to continue onward, and if that means a “National Emergency” in perpetuity, so be it.

Now, could it pass in the House? Yes, especially considering the razor-thin Democrat majority there, plus the massive wave of Democrat retirements, plus the optics of voting FOR an “emergency” in an election year. Oh, and also the fact that the federal government is quietly dropping mask mandates in “low hospitalization” areas per the CDC’s magic map. The pandemic phase of COVID-19 is over, and if the vaccine push didn’t kill it, if the therapeutics available didn’t kill it, then the massive spread and lower lethality of Omicron definitely did. The natural immunity now overwhelmingly at large within the population is working in our favor.

And yet, the Democrats are going to cling to power like a toddler to a candy bar that was grabbed at the grocery check-out line. Getting them to let go of that power is going to be hard. Good for the Republicans in the Senate for at least starting the process. Congress, especially ahead of the midterms, needs to stand up and own their own votes. After all, it’s their jobs on the line, not Biden’s. At least, not yet.

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Featured image via Proulain on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license