Just over three years after the March 13, 2020 declaration by President Trump of a national public health emergency for the coronavirus, President Biden signed into law a joint resolution that declared April 10, 2023 to be the official end of the emergency.

In February 2023, President Biden announced that the pandemic emergency would end on May 11, 2023, but Congress acted to end the national emergency declaration sooner. The House introduced its bill soon after the convening of the 118th Congress and passed it on a party-line vote February 1. The Senate waited to act, but ultimately passed the resolution on March 29, by a bipartisan veto-proof vote of 68-23. When the resolution was presented to President Biden on April 5, he waited another five days before signing it without any fanfare.   

The political undertones of who will get credit for ending the pandemic national emergency may become fodder in the next election cycle. But for now, Congress will continue investigating the use of pandemic emergency funding government-wide, including looking at how colleges spent their Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds.  Meanwhile, the Administration will roll out agency wind-down plans for pandemic era programs and provisions. 

NAICU hosted a webinar (recording and presentation slides) to highlight some of the topics college leaders should be aware of as Washington works to wind down pandemic flexibilities.