Watchdog Calls on Biden Admin to End Pandemic Emergency Powers

For Immediate Release                                                                             Contact: Abigail Graham: (202) 417-7235

September 20, 2022                                                                                                                      

Washington, D.C. – On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden declared that “the pandemic is over,” yet, just a few weeks prior, his administration stated that the authority for student loan forgiveness is because the country is still in a “national emergency.”

In response, TPA President, David Williams, offered the following comment.

“With multiple viable vaccines available to all who want them and COVID hospitalizations and fatalities dropping, President Biden rightly declared on 60 Minutes this weekend that ‘the pandemic is over.’ However, his administration is still insistent on extending emergency authority for itself to implement partisan agenda items and to spend billions more in hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

“When the White House announced its student loan debt forgiveness plan last month, it used the pandemic emergency as justification, using obscure text from a post-9/11 law that would allow for limited debt forgiveness in case of an emergency. Recognizing the reality of the waning nature of COVID-19, yet still utilizing it politically to secure funding for pet projects is the height of cynicism. Taxpayers have been burdened enough over the last two years. It’s time for the Biden administration to give them a much-needed break.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.