House votes to end Covid precautions as G.O.P. Uses the pandemic in political attacks

Republicans in Congress seek to capitalize on discontent over the federal coronavirus response as the party's presidential candidates vie to be the most great enemy of restrictions.

WASHINGTON — Republicans pushed through the House on Tuesday legislation that would repeal vaccination mandates and declare an end to the pandemic, surpassing the Democratic opposition in a broader drive to use the federal response to the spread of the coronavirus against President Biden and his party, stoking a culture war over a major public health challenge.

The largely partisan votes to stop the government from requiring healthcare workers to take the coronavirus vaccine and to end the public health emergency declared at the start of the pandemic were the start of ' a flurry of legislative activity from the G.O.P. this week that has virtually no chance of producing new laws, since the measures cannot make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate or to Mr. Biden's office, where he would be almost certain to veto them. .

But they were at the forefront of an attempt by Republicans to use their majority to paint Mr. Biden and the Democrats as excessive bureaucrats who have kept pandemic measures in place for too long, wreaking havoc on the economy, and in some cases costing people their livelihoods with health restrictions and a shot of vaccine they didn't want. It's a theme that taps into the grievances of parents who were furious with school closures and the resentments of Americans angry at how the pandemic has destabilized their lives, and is already shaping the nascent Republican presidential primary of 2024. .

"Americans have not recovered from Covid-19," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, a close ally of President Kevin McCarthy, who was banned from Twitter for violating the company's coronavirus misinformation policy, but has now been assigned to a select subcommittee to investigate the origins of and response to the virus. "Not just physically, but financially and emotionally."

Democrats push back hard on effort, painting Republicans as rushing extremists to repeal public health measures without proper planning.

“It's not serious to legislate; it's a political posturing,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, who said the effort was designed to undermine Mr. Biden as he tries to end the pandemic in a sensible way. “We all want to move on, but we want to do it responsibly. On Monday evening, Mr. Biden planned to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire in May, signaling that the administration believes the pandemic has entered a new, less severe phase. And seven Democrats crossed party lines to support ending the mandate to vaccinate healthcare workers, reflecting the appeal of the issue beyond the Republican Party base. The bill passed 227-203, while the measure to end the public health emergency passed 220-210 along party lines.

"The White House is in full retreat on this issue," Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said on Tuesday. "It's because he's lost the trust of the American people on this issue." of legislation to reduce remote work policies in the age of the pandemic, carries a significant risk.It has amplified the voices of some far-right members who have embraced vaccine conspiracy theories that are very attractive within from the party base but are alienating large swathes of Americans.

Traditional Republican leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, fear that putting in light of these views no longer deeply taints the Republican brand as an ex very.

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