The GOP base is still resentful over the covid response

House Republicans aren’t ready to forgive and forget on pandemic mandates and closures

On Capitol Hill, House Republicans are focused this week on delivering a political message to their base: The pandemic has long been over and the Biden administration doesn’t realize it.

For many Americans, the relentless focus on covid seems largely a thing of the past. Far fewer people are wearing masks, businesses and schools are mostly open, and many people are living with the threat of contracting the virus.

But among activist Republicans, immense resentment persists at government policies aimed at curbing the pandemic, such as vaccine mandates, school closures and mask requirements. And that’s shaping up to be a significant part of the GOP’s messaging as anger bubbles up among potential Republican presidential contenders and newly empowered House Republicans, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Isaac Arnsdorf and I report.

For Democrats, the push is an extension of conservatives’ insistence on embracing false conspiracy theories, like saying vaccines are harmful and the virus isn’t real. But Republican strategists say that while issues like inflation and immigration are still top of mind for GOP voters, the covid debate is expected to play a significant role in Republican messaging ahead of the 2024 election. 

• “Over the past two years, the skepticism of big government, the skepticism of government bureaucrats telling you what to do, has only grown,” Republican strategist Corry Bliss said. “And the takeaway a lot of people have is those in charge made it up and had no idea what they were doing.”

House Republicans are pushing ahead with congressional hearings on the pandemic beginning today, with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee convening to analyze fraud in covid-19 relief spending and a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee examining challenges to investigating the origins of pandemics and other biological threats.

On tap next week: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the chief oversight panel, told The Health 202 that he’ll hold a hearing next week bringing in front-line border patrol agents to “find out the extent of the problem.” This would include questions over a pandemic-era policy the Biden administration and Hill Republicans have fought over for months, known as Title 42, which allows for the quick expulsion of migrants from the U.S. borders for public…