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by Katherine Watt at Bailiwick News
A reader emailed today, linking to a Feb. 9, 2023 Health and Human Services Fact Sheet: COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Transition Roadmap and asking questions about the legal effects of Biden’s recent signature on House Joint Resolution 7.
HJR 7 – Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, pursuant to section 202 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622), the national emergency declared by the finding of the President on March 13, 2020, in Proclamation 9994 (85 Fed. Reg. 15337) is hereby terminated.
April 10, 2023 – Biden Signs Measure Ending COVID-19 National Emergency (Jeff Louderback, Epoch Times)
President Joe Biden on April 10 signed a measure that immediately ended the COVID-19 national emergency more than three years after it was enacted, the White House announced.
HJ Res 7 passed through the Senate on March 29 by a 68-23 margin, with 21 Democrats joining 47 Republicans to support the measure.
Four Republicans and five Democrats did not cast a vote—and 23 Democrats voted against the short resolution—which was introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) last month and passed by the House 229-197 on Feb. 1.
The reader asked:
Does the PHE actually expire? It appears that they are extending most of the PHE provisions with other mechanisms, [including] free vaccine and PREP Act protection. Can you tell whether the HHS Secretary “Tyranny Powers” are being released on May 11?
My reply, revised and expanded:
No, the HHS Secretary PHE powers are not terminated on May 11.
There are at least three interlocking frameworks for the consolidation of power in executive hands during declared emergencies: the 1976 National Emergencies Act, the 1988 Stafford Act, and the 1944 Public Health Service Act as amended in 1983 to add the Public Health Emergencies (PHE) program.
Congress and Biden have rescinded the emergency proclamation issued under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, but the Public Health Emergency declaration issued by then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Jan. 31, 2020, effective Jan. 27, 2020, remains in force, along with the Stafford Act determination Trump issued on March 13, 2020.
The National Emergencies Act Proclamation 7463 Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks, issued by President Bush in September 2001 and renewed annually since then, also remains in force, along with the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force passed under the 1973 War Powers Act, and any secret orders that may exist without Congressional or public knowledge, such as PEADs (Presidential Emergency Action Documents) and Continuity of Government (COG) orders.
The emergency authorities held by the Health and Human Services Secretary under the…
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