Federal governmental emergencies were declared due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. There are two different federal emergencies to track.
1) The Public Health Emergency
a) On January 31, 2020, Alex M. Azar II, the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services, signed a declaration that a public health emergency existed due to COVID-19:
“As a result of confirmed cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-n-CoV), on this date and after consultation with public health officials as necessary, I, Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services, pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, do hereby determine that a public health emergency exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide.”
The declaration can be found here:
https://www.phe.gov/emergency/news/healthactions/phe/Pages/default.aspx
Click on DECLARATIONS OF A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY on the right side of the screen.
b) Secretary Azar’s Public Health Emergency Declaration did not have an expiration date. A public health emergency terminates upon the Secretary declaring that the emergency no longer exists, or upon the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date on which the determination is made by the Secretary, whichever occurs first, per Public Health Service Act Sec. 318B [247c-2] which can be found at:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-8773/pdf/COMPS-8773.pdf#page=82
c) Secretary Azar signed renewals of the Public Health Emergency Declaration. The renewals can be found on the same website as the declaration, the link for which appears above.
Secretary Azar signed renewals of the Declaration on the following dates:
April 21, 2020
July 23, 2020
October 2, 2020
January 7, 2021
d) Norris Cochran, the acting Secretary of Health and Human Services, signed a “Dear Governor” letter on January 21, 2021. The letter stated, “The current public health emergency was renewed effective January 21, 2021 [sic], and will be in effect for 90 days. To assure you of our commitment to the ongoing response, we have determined that the PHE will likely remain in place for the entirety of 2021, and when a decision is made to terminate the declaration or let it expire, HHS will provide states with 60 days’ notice prior to termination.”
That letter can be found at:
https://aspr.hhs.gov/legal/PHE/Pages/Letter-to-Governors-on-the-COVID-19-Response.aspx
e) Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, signed renewals of Secretary Azar’s Public Health Emergency Declaration. They can be found at the link shown above for Secretary Azar’s renewals. Renewals were signed on the following dates:
April 15, 2021
July 19, 2021
October 15, 2021
January 14, 2022
April 12, 2022
July 15, 2022
October 13, 2022
January 11, 2023
2) The National Emergency
a) On March 30, 2020, President Trump signed a Proclamation stating that a national emergency existed due to COVID-19:
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) and consistent with section 1135 of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5), do hereby find and proclaim that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States constitutes a national emergency, beginning March 1, 2020. Pursuant to this declaration, I direct as follows:
Section 1. Emergency Authority. The Secretary of HHS may exercise the authority under section 1135 of the SSA to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children’s Health Insurance programs and of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule throughout the duration of the public health emergency declared in response to the COVID-19 outbreak….”
The Proclamation can be found here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/18/2020-05794/declaring-a-national-emergency-concerning-the-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak
b) On 02/24/2021, President Biden signed a notice continuing the national emergency:
“On March 13, 2020, by Proclamation 9994, the President declared a national emergency concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation. For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and beginning on March 1, 2020, must continue in effect beyond March 1, 2021. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing the national emergency declared in Proclamation 9994 concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This notice can be found at:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/26/2021-04173/continuation-of-the-national-emergency-concerning-the-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-pandemic
c) On 02/18/2022, President Biden signed another notice continuing the national emergency:
“On March 13, 2020, by Proclamation 9994, the President declared a national emergency concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation. For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and beginning on March 1, 2020, must continue in effect beyond March 1, 2022. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing the national emergency declared in Proclamation 9994 concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This notice can be found at:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/02/18/notice-on-the-continuation-of-the-national-emergency-concerning-the-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-pandemic-2/
3) Ending the Emergencies
a) The Office of Management and Budget of the Executive Office of the President released a Statement of Administration Policy on January 30, 2023. The Statement notes that the COVID-19 national emergency currently is set to expire on March 1, and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency currently is set to expire on April 11. The Statement says, “At present, the Administration’s plan is to extend the emergency declarations to May 11, and then end both emergencies on that date. This wind-down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the PHE.”
This Statement was in response to H.R.382 – 118th Congress (2023-2024), which was introduced in the House of Representatives on 01/17/2023 to terminate the Public Health Emergency declared on 01/31/2020 with respect to COVID-19. It also was in response to H.J.Res.7 – 118th Congress (2023-2024) introduced in the House of Representatives on 01/09/2023 to terminate the national emergency concerning COVID-19 declared by the President on March 13, 2020; the termination would be pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1622, which is section 202 of the National Emergency Act.
The Statement can be found at:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SAP-H.R.-382-H.J.-Res.-7.pdf
H.R.382 can be found at:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/382?s=1&r=1
H.J.Res.7 can be found at:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/7/text?s=1&r=10
b) Note that 50 U.S.C. 1622 (b) states that 6 months after a national emergency is declared, each house of Congress shall meet to consider a vote on a joint resolution to determine whether the emergency shall be terminated. 50 U.S.C. 1622 is the National Emergencies Act section 202.
Updated 02/01/2023