House Republicans passed a bill on Tuesday to end the COVID-19 public health emergency, moving ahead with the legislation despite the Biden administration announcing one day earlier that the declaration would end in May.
The legislation — titled the Pandemic is Over Act — passed in a 220-210 party-line vote. The measure, which stretches two pages, would terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency on the day it is enacted. The Trump administration implemented the declaration in January 2020 and it has remained in place since.
The bill, however, is unlikely to move in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
House Republicans revealed last week that the legislation would hit the floor on Tuesday. On Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the vote, the Biden administration announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency would end on May 11, setting an expiration date for the declaration that has been extended 12 times since it was first implemented.