Last week, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., brought out the “Terminate CDC Overreach Act” which she insisted will “address the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) abusive overreach throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The economic and social upheaval the CDC caused by abusing their authority is nothing short of unprecedented,” said Luna. “One too many American families know the personal harm this has caused to their children, jobs, and pocketbooks. It’s high time we check the CDC’s power so that it is never allowed to exploit a crisis like this again.”
Lunas’s office offered some of the reasons behind the proposal.
“Throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC continually abused its scope under federal law to expand its authority and exploit a crisis, the effects of which we are still experiencing today. What was supposed to be a 14-day shutdown to ‘stop the spread’ turned into three years of forcing Americans out of their jobs, preventing children from attending school, higher rates of learning disabilities and mental health diagnoses, and crippling the United States economy,” Luna’s office insisted. “The Terminate CDC Overreach Act would limit the authority that the CDC can take in the event of an emergency; specifically, the authority the CDC cited when it extended the eviction moratorium (42 USC 264). A blatant extension of federal overreach, the eviction moratorium – which should be regulated by state and local governments – allowed renters to reside in their homes without paying rent. This action was unprecedented, especially in its use of a public health authority, and demonstrated that there is nothing that federal bureaucrats won’t try to control if given the chance.
“Under the framework of Rep. Luna’s bill, the CDC would still be able to act in areas of outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, but would have to tailor policies to individual people, rather than industries or activities (i.e., schools). In addition, it also provides Congress with greater oversight and the ability to overturn the CDC’s action by an expedited joint resolution at any time once the CDC’s decision takes effect,” Luna’s office added. “For example, if a communicable disease was found in a school, the CDC would only have the authority to close that school if it can prove that the person with a confirmed communicable disease was in the school and likely exposed other students and staff. The CDC must also publish a science brief to support its decision to close the school. This is different from the COVID-19 era, when the CDC was able to close all schools across the country with no verifiable proof that the communicable disease (COVID) was being spread within schools.”
U.S. Reps. Elijah Crane, R-Ariz., and Mary Miller, R-Ill., are co-sponsoring the bill which was sent to the U.S. House Energy and the Commerce Committees. So far, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. Senate. The bill will have problems clearing the Democratic controlled Senat
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