Democrat leaders call for extension of eviction moratorium

Democrat leaders call for extension of eviction moratorium
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
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House Democrat leaders are calling for President Joe Biden to extend the moratorium on evictions after a failure to convince moderates in the House to support the extension.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Whip James E. Clyburn, and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark, put out a joint statement on Sunday calling for the Biden administration to take action. The moratorium, which has been in effect since September, expired over the weekend. Pelosi failed to gather enough support for an extension in the House after Democratic leaders failed to win the support of moderators within their caucus.

“On Thursday, the President asked Congress to pass an extension of the eviction moratorium. Sadly, it is clear that the Senate is not able to do so, and any legislation in the House, therefore, will not be sufficient to extend the moratorium,” the House Democratic leaders said in a statement.

“Action is needed, and it must come from the Administration. That is why House leadership is calling on the Administration to immediately extend the moratorium,” the statement continued. “As the CDC doubles down on mask-wearing and vaccination efforts, science and reason demand that they must also extend the moratorium in light of the delta variant. Doing so is a moral imperative to keep people from being put out on the street which also contributes to the public health emergency.”

The push for the extension comes as the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads across the United States. However, the COVID-19 vaccine appears to be effective against the Delta variant as well as the original virus, with cases, hospitalizations, and deaths remaining low among those vaccinated.

“The virus is still a threat,” the Democrats wrote. “The moratorium must be extended, and the funds Congress allocated to assist renters and landlords must be spent. An extension of the moratorium is based on public health and the delta variant. It will also give more time to allow the money that Congress allocated to finally flow.”

“We call upon the Treasury Department to indicate how the funds that it has already transferred to states and communities can be more effectively distributed to renters and landlords.”

Landlords have argued against the extension, which prevents landlords from evicting tenants who have not paid rent, leaving them out of pocket. According to Politico, the eviction ban is costing billions for businesses across the country.

Biden called on Congress last week to extend the ban, arguing that Congress must extend the eviction moratorium because the Supreme Court made clear it would not allow another extension done through executive authority without legislation from Congress.

“Given the recent spread of the Delta variant, including among those Americans both most likely to face evictions and lacking vaccinations, President Biden would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to further extend this eviction moratorium to protect renters at this moment of heightened vulnerability. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement last week. “In June, when CDC extended the eviction moratorium until July 31st, the Supreme Court’s ruling stated that “clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31.”

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