US President Joe Biden informed Congress that he will end the national emergencies to combat the Covid-19 outbreak on May 11, a move that will restructure the federal governments response to the pandemic.
This declaration came as Biden announced his opposition to House Republicans efforts to end the emergency declarations immediately, according to the Washington Post.
The White House opposed ending the emergency declarations immediately, saying in a statement that "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."
The expiration of the orders marks a new phase of the pandemic response, as US officials prepare to remove some of the flexibilities that were implemented during the earliest and most dire days of the pandemic.
One of the most notable effects of ending the national emergency would be the termination of Title 42, a public health measure that has limited the inflow of migrants at the border.
Additionally, the emergency declaration allowed the Medicaid program to provide additional funding to tens of millions of beneficiaries.
