Photo: Alamy
Many Americans are celebrating the Biden administration’s decision to finally end the national emergency for the Covid-19 pandemic, which was first declared three years ago.
Officials, including Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., applauded the decision to end the “ridiculous pandemic emergency,” saying that her state was the only one in the nation to never mandate lockdowns.
“South Dakota was the ONLY state to never mandate lockdowns,” Noem tweeted on Wednesday.
“Glad the federal government is finally ending the ridiculous pandemic emergency,” she added.
The GOP governor had also never implemented a mask mandate in her state, writing in a segment for the Rapid City Journal that families could make “informed decisions for themselves.”
Joe Biden, who previously promised to extend the emergency declaration until May 11, reluctantly signed H.J. Res. 7 into law behind closed doors on Monday, terminating the national emergency related to Covid-19.
The Biden administration had argued that once it became inevitable that Congress would end the national emergency, the White House needed to take steps to prepare for a return to normalcy.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., passed 229 to 197 in the House, with 11 Democrats supporting the measure. It also passed the Senate 68 to 23 in February, with crossover support from 21 Democrats.
The Biden administration’s actions come more than three years after the emergency provision was first enacted during the beginning of the pandemic by the Trump White House in March 2020.
Biden had extended the emergency declaration since taking office in January 2021.
The separate public health emergency is set to expire on May 11.
