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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other Democratic leaders were seen huddled together on the House floor on Thursday, trying to see if they could come to an agreement for a deal.
“I am writing to you now to ask you to help those in need receive what is intended for them,” Pelosi wrote in a letter Thursday evening urging Democrats to extend the moratorium until the end of the year. “We need to extend the moratorium on evictions to allow more time for the disbursement of funds. I make this plea by invoking the Gospel of Matthew, which reminds us of our responsibility: to provide shelter to those in need.”
Although lawmakers did not vote on Thursday, Pelosi told reporters on Friday morning “we’ll see” when asked if she thinks a vote could take place on Friday. The House is only hours away from the start of its scheduled seven-week recess in August, although the leader of Congress may delay or cancel that recess and return the chamber to session.
Even if the extension passes the House, the Senate is unlikely to be able to quickly pass the bill anytime soon. The upper house has blocked speaking for the foreseeable future as it attempts to push forward a bipartisan infrastructure bill, and any swift passage would require the unanimous consent of all 100 senators. The Senate is also expected to start its recess at the end of next week, although that could also change if management changes the schedule.
Pelosi said she believes the moratorium should be extended until the end of the year, and not sooner.
Republicans pushed back on Democrats trying to do this at the last minute as well.
“The CDC order was due to expire at the end of this month. They knew that in February. Democrats were given an opportunity to change that. They did not,” GOP Representative Patrick McHenry said on Friday. North Carolina. “We heard the priority. We heard the emergency. But it’s not an emergency. On this day, it’s a tragedy that it’s this level of incompetence that we didn’t act in February, March, April, May, June, even July.
But Democrats have insisted that no matter how serious the situation, this extension cannot be ignored.
“We need to put this on hold for public health reasons,” Democratic Representative Deborah Ross of North Carolina said Friday. “For the economic well-being of people and to give people time to make this transition. I also wish we had planned this more in advance, but I can tell people are making progress. We have to help people. at present. “
Senior Democratic officials from both chambers told CNN on Thursday that they were trying to strike a deal, but the way forward is still unclear.
A senior House Democrats official told CNN: “We are talking to our members; we will extend until December 31 and see if there are votes to pass it. You should ask senators what they think if they are going to pass something! “
A Senate Democratic aide told CNN: “Democrats are preparing legislation to do it,” adding that the Senate will be able to meet the looming deadline “if Republicans don’t block it.”
CNN’s Daniella Diaz and Anna Bahney contributed to this report.
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