WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to terminate a COVID-19 pandemic national emergency order implemented by former President Donald Trump in 2020 that was due to be terminated in May anyway.
The 68-23 vote on the measure came after the House voted 229-197 in February, with 11 Democrats joining 218 Republicans in support.
A statement of administration policy issued in January that covered House measures to end both the national emergency and a related public health emergency said “an abrupt end to the emergency declarations would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system — for states, for hospitals and doctors’ offices, and, most importantly, for tens of millions of Americans.” It did not, however, include a direct veto threat if Congress passed the measures.
