While the measure was spearheaded by Republican lawmakers, it garnered relatively strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate before President Biden signed it on Monday.
The national emergency is separate from the public health emergency, which is scheduled to end in exactly one month, though states have been given the leeway to begin unwinding measures enacted under the health emergency a month before or after its official conclusion.
The White House had been planning to end both emergencies by May 11 before Biden signed the bill Monday.
Overall, the impact of the national emergency ending likely won’t be strongly felt around the country.
One of the main actions that was carried out under the proclamation was pausing requirements for federal programs Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP in order to ensure patients could still receive care during lockdown.
As health care stakeholders noted when the bill to end the national emergency was passed, many of these requirements were state-specific and state governments have likely reinstated the requirements already.
The signing of this bill signifies a small victory for congressional Republicans, ending a declaration first issued by then-President Trump in March 2020.
While the White House said Biden opposed the resolution to end the emergency, he did not veto it, reversing his prior stance on its enactment.
Biden’s about-face caught House Democrats off guard and many lambasted the president for a perceived lack of consistency.
The administration has, however, signaled a readiness to move on from the pandemic. In Biden’s budget proposal released last month, the administration did not ask for any additional COVID funding, instead including lines for addressing the lingering impacts of the outbreak.
