The Facts
On Thursday, a US White House official confirmed that Pres. Joe Biden won't veto a bill that passed the Senate to end the COVID emergency despite having conveyed opposition to it earlier this year.
The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 68-23 on Wednesday to terminate the national emergency signed into law by former Pres. Donald Trump in 2020. In February, the Republican-controlled House voted 229-197, with 11 Democrats joining 218 Republicans in support.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Once again, Biden has flip-flopped on his own party. Earlier this month, the president sided with Republicans on the DC criminal code issue, and now he’s taken their position on the COVID emergency. Even worse, he didn’t bother to communicate with his fellow Democrats before making this decision. Moving forward, the president is going to have to loop in more people to keep the party unified.
Republican narrative
It’s about time Biden agreed to give up the authoritarian powers he was enjoying from the national emergency. After all, as far back as September, he proclaimed that COVID was over. Democrats need to get over their political hurt and accept that Biden is finally doing what’s best for the country.
