A national ban on most residential evictions expired after Saturday, setting the stage for a potentially widespread displacement of low-income renters that looks poised to hit Southern states particularly hard.
Meanwhile, only about $3 billion out of $46.6 billion in federal rental assistance meant to prevent tenant evictions and help struggling landlords had reached landlords and tenants by the end of June, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which noted that the pace at which local programs were disbursing the funds has been increasing.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enacted the eviction ban in September to prevent evictions of millions of tenants who were unable to pay rent because of financial hardship during the pandemic. The CDC has extended the moratorium three times. The White House said on Wednesday that only the U.S. Congress could extend it again, citing a Supreme Court ruling that limited the CDC’s power to renew it. But lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to renew the ban.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter this weekend that the Senate could take action on this issue and that the House was on call while out of town for several weeks. But Republicans are unlikely to vote to extend the moratorium further, making action in the Senate unlikely.
Mrs. Pelosi (D., Calif.) reiterated on Twitter on Sunday her view that “the CDC has the power to extend the eviction moratorium.” A senior White House official said last week that an administrative—rather than legislative—extension of the moratorium would quickly be struck down by the Supreme Court.
