CDC announces a new 60-day moratorium on evictions

 

Joe Biden

CDC announces a new 60-day moratorium on evictions "to allow additional rent-waiver time to reach tenants and increase vaccination rates."

The CDC extended the moratorium on evictions for 60 days

It may be challenged in court

President Joe Biden admits that may not be constitutional

CDC said the order would allow more time to "increase vaccination rates," describing it as an "effective public health measure."

It will target counties with high rates of coronavirus infection

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to return Congress to a vote on this issue

CDC extended the moratorium on evictions by 60 days, a move that risks being challenged in court and that President Joe Biden acknowledges may not be constitutional.

CDC Director Rochelle Walinsky has signed an order outlining "evictions of tenants for failing to pay rent, or housing payments could harm public health surveillance measures" to slow the spread of COVID, the agency announced.

The order extends the moratorium on evacuation through October 3 and applies to counties "with significant and high levels" of COVID transmission.

CDC said the order would allow more time to "increase vaccination rates," describing it as an "effective public health measure."

White House officials said the project would cover about 90 percent of the country's tenants.

The White House pushed the case to Congress and the states after the Supreme Court ruled in June, preventing further executive action.

But Biden said he had spoken to several constitutional scholars on Tuesday and would see if the new declaration "passes constitutional muster."

The bulk of Constitutional Grant says he is unlikely to pass Constitutional Mobility Number One. But several vital scientists think it might be so, and it's well worth the effort.

But Biden noted that the order "will likely give some extra time" for the rental assistance money to flow.

The Supreme Court issues a new ruling on any new orders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Distribution of the rental assistance that Congress appropriated in December and March has been painfully slow. So far, the $47 billion emergency assistance program has disbursed only $3 billion.

But Democrats hoped the new system would make time for the money to flow.

"This new moratorium will save time for the flow of money that Congress has appropriated, to stop the spread of Coronavirus worsening due to the delta variable and protects families and landlords," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.