Ramifications From The End of the COVID Public Health Emergency (BTN #20)
Biden Tracking Newsletter #20 Day 839 (5/8) through Day 845 (5/14)
Then-candidate Biden discusses his plan to beat COVID-19 in September 2020
This is the twentieth edition of the Biden Tracking newsletter. This week we will focus on the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Specifically the effects on Immigration, and Pandemic-era social services. Today is Monday, May 15th, 2023, day 846 of the Biden Presidency.
If you’re interested in learning more about topics in my newsletter, everything underlined contains a link to a news article that goes into further detail on the subject.
Thursday, May 11 (Day 842)
Biden is Selling Weapons to the Majority of the World’s Autocracies
On Thursday, the Intercept reported that the Biden Administration sold weapons to 57 percent of the world’s autocratic countries in 2022. According to the methodology used in the article, an autocracy is a country where its leaders are not accountable to their citizens through free and fair elections. The findings are contrary to statements made by President Biden. In a speech in Warsaw last year, Biden called the battle between democracy and autocracy one “between liberty and repression” and “between a rules-based international order and one governed by brute force.” Unfourtantly for President Biden, actions speak louder than words,
Secretary Cardona Confirms Plans to End the Student Loan Payment Pause
On Thursday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona officially confirmed plans to restart the student loan payments by June 30th. "The emergency period is over,” he said. “We're preparing our borrowers to restart." Cardona also said that he was confident the Biden Administrations' student loan relief plan would not be blocked by the Supreme Court, despite lots of indications to the contrary. If the Supreme Court does block student debt relief, and the Biden Administration does not find another way to implement it, it could be a huge blow for the Biden Administration electorally, especially among young people.
Biden Reportedly Concedes Spending Cuts in Debt Ceiling Negotiations
On Thursday, Reuters reported that White House officials were acknowledging that they must accept some spending cuts or strict caps on future spending if they are to strike a deal with Republicans. The reporting is disappointing following suggestions that the Biden Administration might use the 14th Amendment to avert a debt default. If true, the move would be a blow to Democrats and their voters. Democrats had an opportunity to raise the debt ceiling when they controlled both houses from 2020 to 2022 but failed to. To take social services away from Americans, who did not cause a debt default, would be a definite failure by Democrats and the Biden Administration.
Friday, May 12 (Day 843)
Title 42 officially ends, Biden Admin Re-Implements Trump-era Border Policies
On Friday, due to the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, more on that in a minute, Title 42 officially ended. Title 42 was a Trump-era pandemic policy that allowed the government to expel migrants without an asylum hearing. To replace Title 42, the Biden Administration officially implemented a Trump-era Asylum Transit Ban. The new policy presumes migrants to be ineligible for asylum if they didn’t first seek asylum in countries they passed through. Exceptions for the policy include getting an appointment through the CPB One App, being an unaccompanied minor, having an acute medical emergency, facing an imminent and extreme threat to life and safety, or are being a victim of a severe form of trafficking. It is still possible to “rebut” the presumption of Asylum but only under “especially compelling circumstances.” The ACLU has sued the Biden Administration over the policy, calling it “cruel and illegal.” To speed up processes at the border, the Biden Administration is also reducing the amount of time allowed for migrants to seek legal aid, from 48 to 24 hours.
The COVID Public Health Emergency Officially Ends, Here is What Ended With It
On Friday, the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency officially ended. Along with Title 42 (see above), multiple other pandemic-era social services have also ended. (Click on the headline above for a full list.) Among the most notable services ending are food benefits for children under 6, the Child and Adult Care Food Program for young adults in shelters, and Medicaid covering the uninsured for COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments. The end of the emergency will also trigger the end of College Student SNAP benefits on June 9th, and the end of Pandemic EBT food benefits for school children on September 30. These social services will end with little fan fair but the benefits they provided were crucial for poor families, with or without a pandemic. It is disappointing that little was done to keep these benefits around.
On Friday, The New Republic reported that the Biden Administration had stopped requesting that American think tanks disclose funding from foreign governments. The policy initially emerged in 2020, under then-President Trump. The move is a blow to those calling for greater transparency in the key policymaking vehicles in Washington. The effects of the change are not immediately clear but in 2014, the New York Times reported that foreign dictatorships had learned how to “buy influence” via think tank donations.
Other News: