Extend eviction ban

Democrats press Biden to extend eviction ban

The last-minute debate about whether to renew the moratorium a fifth time comes as the U.S. faces growing uncertainty about the impact of a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.

By KATY O'DONNELL and KELLIE MEJDRICH

The White House is facing increasing pressure from Democrats in Congress to extend the federal eviction ban before it expires this weekend amid persistent bottlenecks in the distribution of rental aid.

House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said she is pushing the Biden administration to renew the moratorium beyond a Saturday deadline despite concerns that an extension would rest on shaky legal footing. A majority of Supreme Court justices signaled late last month that they believed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority when it imposed the ban.

“I know that's a problem, but I'm so worried about the evictions and all these children and families that might end up on the street," Waters said in an interview Tuesday. "So despite the obstacles that may get in the way, I think they should try [to extend it]."

The last-minute debate about whether to renew the moratorium a fifth time comes as the U.S. faces growing uncertainty about the impact of a resurgence in Covid-19 cases thanks to the highly transmissible Delta variant. The CDC said in June that it was extending the eviction ban until July 31 for what officials intended to be the last time. But the U.S. is now poised to resurrect some pandemic-related restrictions that could impact the economy. Compounding the concerns is the fact that only a fraction of the $46.5 billion in rental aid has reached struggling tenants.

“Covid-19 is coming back,” Senate Small Business Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said in an interview. “So I think there should be some way to extend it, as well as providing additional relief for landlords for those who can’t pay.”

About 7.4 million tenant households reported being behind on rent in June, according to the latest survey data from the Census Bureau. About 3.6 million households said they were “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to face eviction in the next two months.

The CDC first issued the eviction ban in September, citing a public health law that gives the agency certain powers to prevent communicable diseases from crossing state lines. The agency said evictions would force people to either double up with friends and family or turn to homeless shelters just as health officials were encouraging social distancing to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Groups representing landlords sued to overturn the ban, which the National Association of Realtors said this summer was costing property owners more than $13 billion a month. The Supreme Court refused to end the moratorium in a 5-4 decision late last month, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the liberal justices to allow the eviction prohibition to continue. But Kavanaugh said he nonetheless agreed with a lower court ruling that found the CDC had exceeded its authority.

"Because the CDC plans to end the moratorium in only a few weeks, on July 31, and because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds, I vote at this time to deny the application to vacate the District Court’s stay of its order," Kavanaugh wrote at the time.

But only a trickle of federal aid intended to backstop landlords and keep tenants in their homes has reached its intended targets. The Treasury Department last week reported that state and local governments had disbursed just 6.5 percent of $46.5 billion in funds to tenants and landlords over the first six months of the year.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said “we should be actively considering” an extension.

“I do think they’re looking at all the legal issues and trying to make a decision,” Van Hollen said of the Biden administration.

Waters said she had been in contact with the administration about the issue. “I don’t know how they’re going to deal with it at this point," she added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the White House would be “watching this closely” and was discussing “how we can continue to help renters.”

Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who with Waters oversees the rental aid, said he was not yet pushing for an extension.

“The CDC is making that decision,” Brown said. “My job is to make sure the [aid] money gets out as quickly possible.”