Biden seeks extension of CDCs eviction ban as millions risk being homeless

As the White House administration does not have the legal power to extend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction ban, it called on Congress to pass an emergency extension on Thursday.

“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,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

She added, “Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available.”

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CDC’s moratorium on eviction was left intact by the Supreme Court last month. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh gave a nod to the same. However, Brett Kavanaugh agreed that CDC had exceeded its authority in enacting the moratorium and said that it could only be extended by an act of Congress now. 

“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the President calls on Congress to extend the eviction moratorium to protect such vulnerable renters and their families without delay,” Psaki said.

The ban was issued under former President Donald Trump and has since been extended many times under Biden. However, the recent extension from June to July 31 is seen by the agency to be the last one. The ban is due to expire on August 1 and it is still unclear if it will be extended, meeting Biden’s request. 

The request came as an estimated 15 million people in 6.5 million households are at risk of eviction when the moratorium expires, according to researchers at the Aspen Institute. 

“The President urges states and localities, which long ago received Emergency Rental Assistance – including through the American Rescue Plan – to urgently accelerate their efforts to disburse these funds given the imminent ending of the CDC eviction moratorium,” Psaki told the Hill.

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“With some cities and states demonstrating their ability to release these funds efficiently to tenants and landlords in need, there can be no excuse for any state or locality not to promptly deploy the resources that Congress appropriated to meet this critical need of so many Americans,” she added.