In a September interview, Joe Biden said “the pandemic is over,” but his White House Press Secretary claimed otherwise. Unlike the Biden Administration, House Republicans are unified in our commitment to bringing to the floor legislation that will ensure the federal government acknowledges the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, returns to regular order, and most importantly, ends the authoritarian policies that have used the guise of COVID-19 to attack Americans’ personal freedoms.
Led by Rep. Brett Guthrie, House Republicans will bring up for a vote the Pandemic is Over Act, which would repeal the Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 and require the Administration finally devise an offramp for the end of this order. House Republicans will also bring up for a vote Rep. Jeff Duncan’s legislation, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, which would nullify the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in federally funded medical facilities.
THE PANDEMIC IS OVER ACT:
Even after calling the pandemic over, the Biden Administration extended the PHE for COVID-19 in January, making it the twelfth time it has been renewed since its initial declaration on January 31, 2020.
The Biden Administration has broken the American people’s trust in our government health agencies through unscientific school closures as well as vaccine and mask mandates and continues to use COVID-19 to justify circumventing Congress to enact his radical agenda.
In February 2022, over 70 House Republicans, led by Chair Rodgers, sent a letter to President Biden and HHS Secretary Becerra, asking what their plan was for unwinding the PHE, and never received a response.
H.R. 382, the Pandemic is Over Act, ends the PHE on the date of enactment and forces the Biden Administration to be transparent with the American people if he needs further authority.
THE FREEDOM FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS ACT:
On November 5, 2021, CMS published an interim final rule with a comment period requiring all participating Medicare and Medicaid certified providers to establish vaccination requirements for their staff.
CMS can hold providers liable for enforcing this mandate through civil monetary penalties, denial of payment for new patient admissions, or the termination of a provider’s Medicare & Medicaid agreement.
CMS estimated the rule would cost providers $1.3 billion to implement and impact 2.4 million health care workers in the first year alone.
Our dedicated medical professionals never should have been burdened with this authoritarian mandate, which is an attack on the personal freedoms of our frontline workers and has unnecessarily exacerbated the healthcare workforce shortage.
H.R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, eliminates the one-size-fits-all federal vaccine mandate and allows hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers to safely staff their facilities without extra government hurdles.
This bill prevents the Secretary from implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to this final rule, and prevents CMS from promulgating any substantial similar rule in the future.
MAKE NO MISTAKE: The American people know that the COVID-19 pandemic is over—it’s time for the federal government to act like it.
