The U.S. Senate voted 48-47 on Thursday to end the two-year-old declaration of a state of emergency related to COVID-19.
The vote was strictly party line with 48 Republicans in favor, 47 Democrats opposed. There were five senators who did not vote, three Democrats and two Republicans.
The brief resolution simply stated the emergency was “hereby terminated.”
As previously reported, President Joe Biden late last month quietly extended the emergency first declared by President Donald Trump on Friday the 13th of March, 2020. What is also noteworthy is that both Biden and Trump have acted illegally by declaring emergencies when the U.S. Constitution does not give any authority to the federal government pertaining to viruses and diseases, and the U.S. Congress has been required to vote every six months on whether to continue or end the declaration.
This was the first vote taken by either branch of Congress related to the declaration.
The resolution was sponsored by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), and it had seven co-sponsors: Sens. Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Steve Daines (R-Montana).
In a press release, Marshall stated:
“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. 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.”
Despite the resolution being approved, it is unlikely to move forward.
As Julian Conradson wrote for the Gateway Pundit: “Unfortunately, the measure is unlikely to make pass the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives when it is kicked over to them in the coming days, despite growing support among Americans across both aisles to bring an end to pandemic-related restrictions.”
Even if it passed the House, Biden has already stated he will veto it.
Life Site News reported: “In response, the White House declared that it ‘strongly opposes Senate Joint Resolution 38,’ claiming it would ‘unnecessarily and abruptly curtail the ability of the Administration to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic’ and vowing to veto it should it reach Biden’s desk.”
It also reported Biden’s statement from the state of the union in which he said: “We will never give up on vaccinating more Americans.”
If the declaration were revoked, all emergency use authorizations (EUA) would seize to exist meaning a complete stoppage of the experimental “vaccines,” masks, treatments like remdesivir and ventilators and many more that are under EUA status.