President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday issued a targeted moratorium on evictions in areas hardest hit by the coronavirus, replacing a nationwide freeze on evictions that ended Saturday despite legal concerns about doing so unilaterally.
The new measure, in effect for 60 days, prohibits evictions in counties with high rates of COVID-19 transmission, mirroring where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends residents receive mask vaccinations indoors and in public places.
CDC Director Rochelle Walinsky The request was signed on Tuesday This evening, after Biden confirmed the move earlier today. The president said he sought input from Constitution scholars to determine whether the CDC had the legal authority to issue a new evacuation measure, but it was not clear if he could pass a constitutional muster.
“There are many key scientists who think it’s worth it, and it’s worth all the effort,” Biden said.
more:Biden urges landlords to halt evictions as White House rushes to find solutions to extend freeze
Read the CDC version:The CDC issues an evacuation order in areas of high and high transmission
Biden said the pending lawsuit would “likely give some extra time” for the rental assistance money to flow. The president said his hope is that the targeted new measure will somehow cover nearly 90% of American renters.
“It is intended to target specific areas of the country where cases are increasing rapidly, and which are likely to be exacerbated by mass evictions,” Walinsky’s order read.
Outside the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, Schumer applauded Democratic Representative. Corey Bush, De Mo., who has clouded the steps of the Capitol since Friday to draw attention to the issue.
“I did this,” Schumer said.
Bush and fellow Progressive Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York threw a mini-dance as they celebrated the news.
“It would be a victory for people who have long felt – because I am one of those people – that no one was listening,” Bush said. She added that she did not see the language of the new endowment. “Our work is not finished. This is a step, but the work is not finished.”
A previous federal moratorium — put in place during the pandemic to help Americans unable to make rent payments — has kept more than two million renters in their homes. Eleven million Americans have missed rent payments during the pandemic.
Biden and the Democratic leadership faced a growing backlash from progressive Democrats after the Democratic-controlled House postponed the recess last week without taking action on a bill that would have renewed the moratorium. It comes as the rise in the coronavirus delta variant has raised new concerns about the resurgence of the pandemic.
more:AOC blames Democrats for allowing eviction moratorium to expire, says Biden was not ‘candid’
Pelosi called on Biden on Sunday to extend the moratorium. Days ago, Biden called on Congress to extend a moratorium on evictions, but Democrats were unable to get enough votes to pass the measure before the session was adjourned. The back-and-forth was a rare dispute between Biden and his party over who had the authority to act.
“Today is an extraordinary day of rest,” Pelosi said. “Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, the impending fear of eviction and eviction on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is here!”
Key legal questions remain, however.
Over the past year, the CDC has extended the moratorium to help Americans struggling to pay rent during the pandemic three times. But as recently as Monday, the White House said only Congress could extend a freeze on evictions again after the Supreme Court ruled in June that the CDC overstepped its authority when it set policy.
“So far, the director of the CDC and her team have been unable to find legal authority, even to halt a more targeted evacuation focused only on counties with the highest rates of COVID spread,” White House senior adviser Jane Sperling said Monday.
In a June 29 ruling, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court allowed the federal eviction to be halted through the end of July. But Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he only submitted the fifth vote because the freeze was about to expire on its own and said any further extension would require congressional authorization.
In search of a solution, the White House on Monday urged landlords to defer for 30 days and seek emergency federal rental assistance to compensate. Biden also called on all states and cities to enact their own moratoriums on evictions over the next two months. These actions will be moot if the new federal moratorium decision is put on hold in court.
Biden and Democrats have drawn attention to the $46.5 billion Congress approved this year for rent assistance that state and local governments have been slow to spend. The White House said it was studying why states and cities failed to distribute the money.
Connect with Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
0 Comments