President Joe Biden on Friday sent a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate regarding his plans to extend the U.S. National Emergency that was declared in early 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
The Democratic leader believes there is "a need to continue this national emergency."
"There remains a need to continue this national emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation," President Biden wrote in a letter to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
"More than 900,000 people in this Nation have perished from the disease, and it is essential to continue to combat and respond to COVID-19 with the full capacity and capability of the Federal Government."
President Biden added that he has "determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Proclamation 9994 concerning the COVID-19 pandemic." The national emergency in response to the COVID pandemic was first issued in Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020, beginning March 1, 2020.
According to The Epoch Times, at the time, then President Donald Trump declared the COVID national emergency, sparking the release of up to $50 billion in federal aid. The COVID national emergency would have been automatically terminated unless within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the president sent a notice to Congress stating that it would carry on beyond the anniversary date.
President Biden's decision to extend the COVID national emergency comes as a number of Democratic governors plan to drop COVID mandates such as mask requirements in recent days.
Last week, New York's and Massachusetts' governors announced that they would end certain mask mandates in their states. Similarly, the state government of New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon are also moving to ease COVID restrictions and other mandates.
During a White House briefing last week, federal health officials under the Biden administration announced that they were preparing for the next phase of the pandemic, given that Omicron cases have dropped significantly. Controversial White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that this move, along with the dropping of several COVID restrictions and mandates, was not political, but because case numbers are on a decline.
Some critics believe, however, that Democratic leaders are scrambling to keep hold of either the House or Senate in the 2022 midterms, which is why they are suddenly loosening their grip on COVID mandates.
"I wouldn't say it's the politics. I think it's the different evaluation of what's right for a particular community," Dr. Fauci told MSNBC on Monday, as reported by the Daily Mail. "When you use the word politics, I'm not sure it's that. I just think at the local level, there's a strong feeling of needing to get back to normality."
Interestingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appears to be echoing the same sentiment. Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week, "We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better," CNBC reported.
