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- President Biden has torn state leaders apart for sitting on rent assistance for landlords and tenants affected by the pandemic.
- Earlier this week, he called on Congress to extend the moratorium on evictions – several days before the federal ban expires.
- Representative Hoyer sought unanimous consent to extend the ban, which failed, and the House adjourned.
President Joe Biden criticized heads of state on Friday for sitting on billions in rent subsidies as the moratorium on evictions is due to expire on Saturday.
Biden called on state and local governments to disperse the emergency rent assistance funding they received in February.
“Five months later, communities across the country showing they can deliver funds effectively – there can be no excuse that a state or locality does not expedite funds to landlords and tenants who were injured during this pandemic, “Biden said in a statement.
“Every state and local government needs to withdraw these funds to make sure we prevent all possible evictions,” Biden continued.
Lawmakers have shifted responsibility for letting the moratorium expire.
Earlier this week, the president called on Congress to extend the deportation ban just days before the moratorium expires, saying his administration would have “strongly supported” the decision to renew the ban but claimed not to be able to do so by citing a Supreme Court decision.
“In June, when the CDC extended the moratorium on evictions until July 31, the Supreme Court ruling said that” clear and specific authorization from Congress (via new legislation) would be required for the CDC to extend moratorium beyond July 31 “” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
According to Washington Post reporter Seung Min Kim“
However, a Democratic House aide, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Insider that the White House statement on Thursday “just didn’t leave enough time.”
“Their statement hit us out of the blue, nobody expected it,” the aide said.
On the House floor on Friday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, asked for unanimous consent to extend the moratorium on deportations before adjourning the House before the end of July deadline.
The vote failed on an objection, and the House is expected to meet again until the end of September, pending any “significant legislation” who could call them in session earlier.
After the bill failed, Pelosi, Hoyer and House Majority Whip representative James Clyburn wrote a statement expressing their disappointment. Earlier in the week and until Thursday, members of the House reportedly believed the White House would extend the moratorium itself.
“It is extremely disappointing that Republicans in the House and Senate have refused to work with us on this issue,” they wrote after the vote. “We urge them to reconsider their opposition to helping millions of Americans and to join us in helping tenants and landlords hardest hit by the pandemic and preventing a nationwide eviction crisis.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she and Rep. Cori Bush, “tried to oppose the adjournment of the House session and force a roll call on whether we should leave.”
“They rushed to adjourn before we could speak,” she wrote.
About 6 million Americans face eviction in the coming months, or 16% of all tenants, according to Census Pulse Survey data, after the moratorium expired on July 31.
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