Washington, D.C. — Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) released the following statement on unwinding the public health emergency (PHE) after President Biden declared the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

“Now that the President has finally acknowledged the pandemic is over, he should immediately begin to unwind the public health emergency (PHE) so our country can get back to normal. We’ve been calling on the Biden administration to provide a plan to end the public health emergency for months and provide a full accounting of how it spent trillions of dollars that fueled inflation. Instead of clinging to his emergency powers and asking for $22 billion in more COVID-19 spending, President Biden should get to work and take seriously the need to rebuild trust and confidence in America’s public health agencies. It is long past time.”

NOTE:

• In February, McMorris Rodgers sent a letter with 75 of her House Republican colleagues urging President Biden and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to accept that COVID-19 has become endemic, recognize that current heavy-handed government interventions are doing more harm than good, and immediately provide a plan to unwind the public health emergency so our country can get back to normal.
• Last month, McMorris Rodgers and Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) released a statement on President Biden’s plans to extend the public health emergency for COVID-19.

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