Biden signs bill ending COVID-19 pandemic national emergency
Public health emergency expires in May
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden signed a bill Monday that terminates the national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president publicly opposed the bipartisan congressional resolution, H.J.Res. 7, but not to the point of issuing a veto.
Nearly 200 House Democrats voted against it in February. As the measure passed the Senate in March, Biden told lawmakers that he would sign it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The national emergency allowed the government to respond to the crisis. Some of the emergency measures taken have already been wound down. The public health emergency will expire on May 11.
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President Biden greets children as he attends the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 10, 2023, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))
The administration said that once it became clear that Congress was acting to accelerate the end of the national emergency, it took steps to expedite agency preparations for a return to normal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s COVID-19 mortgage forbearance program is set to end at the end of May, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is returning to a requirement for in-home visits to determine eligibility for caregiver assistance.
Legislators have extended telehealth flexibilities that were introduced at the start of the pandemic for another two years.
Then-President Donald Trump first declared a public health emergency on Jan. 31, 2020, with Trump declaring a national emergency in March.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden greets guest and take selfies during the 2023 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, April 10, 2023. ((Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images))
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The emergencies have been extended under Biden since Jan. 2021.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Over the past three years, more than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.