House Democrat denounces lawmakers ‘on vacation’ as moratorium on evictions ends

“The House is on vacation. People are on vacation. How are we on vacation when we have millions of people who could start being deported tonight? Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, told CNN’s Jessica Dean in “Newsroom” Saturday afternoon. “There are people who are already receiving and have received pay or departure notices that will take them out tomorrow. People are already in a position where they need help, our most vulnerable, our most marginalized, those who need it. ”

“How do we go on vacation? No, we have to come back here,” said Bush, speaking from the steps of the US Capitol where she had spent the night in an effort to call on her colleagues to extend the moratorium.

All day Friday, Democratic leaders struggled to find enough votes to extend the moratorium beyond the July 31 deadline, to no avail, even attempting to pass a bill to extend the moratorium on deportations by unanimous consent.

Bush, who had been ousted and expelled before joining Congress, urged House leaders to reconvene and pass legislation that would allow Americans to stay at home until the end of the year.

The congressman said she was in communication with the House leadership, but has “heard no assurances yet that this could happen. But we remain hopeful.”

Bush has called on the Senate to extend the moratorium before the chamber begins its recess at the end of next week. She also called on the CDC and the White House to extend the moratorium, but the White House cited a Supreme Court opinion last month that said congressional action would be needed to extend it beyond July 31.

Bush invited members of her party to join her in Capitol Square on Friday and was joined by her progressive colleagues, Reps Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota overnight, and visited by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren Saturday.

Bush wrote in a letter to her colleagues on Friday that she “cannot in good conscience leave Washington tonight as a government controlled by Democrats leaves millions of people homeless as the Delta variant ravages our communities.”

She pledged to continue to fight for the millions of Americans who will be affected by the expiration of the moratorium.

“I plan to be here until something happens,” she told CNN on Saturday. “I hope something happens today. I don’t have a time or end time. I had no idea yesterday I would be here tonight. We’re just going one step at a time . “

Bush told CNN’s Daniella Diaz on Saturday that she knew “what it’s like to wonder if I’m going to get this eviction notice.”

“Hope that when you show up at that door, just hope that when you see that door, there’s no sheriff’s piece of paper,” she said. “Your whole life is turned upside down.”

CNN’s Daniella Diaz, Annie Grayer, Phil Mattingly, Kristin Wilson and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.