OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The White House is under heavy fire from Democrats over the end of the eviction moratorium.
Liberals and progressives are slamming the Biden administration for waiting too long to ask Congress to pass legislation extending the moratorium.
The evection moratorium, which was put in place during the pandemic, protects renters from being evicted for not paying their rent.
Biden officially asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider another extension of the evictions moratorium.
The CDC responded by saying they were unable to legally justify even a narrow ban following a Supreme Court ruling last month.
Biden asked the agency to consider a 30-day moratorium focused on counties with a high or substantial spread of coronavirus.
Missouri Democrat Rep. Cori Bush joined other demonstrators to sleep on the steps of the U.S. Capitol overnight Friday to protest the end of the eviction moratorium.
Bush is specifically calling out Kamala Harris on the issue.
I just had a conversation with @VP Kamala Harris. I needed her to look me in my eyes and I wanted to look in hers when I asked for help to prevent our people from being evicted.
Madam Vice President, let’s work together to get this done. We need a federal eviction moratorium.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) August 2, 2021
Washington Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said: “It’s too little too late. The White House did not handle this well. I think they did not think about this eviction moratorium in a serious way.”
“I have communicated to the White House that they need to spend a lot more time on getting the reconciliation package through,” Jayapal said, referring to the social programs that are part of the Biden agenda.
California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna said: “Since the president’s term [started], I haven’t seen this much frustration — anger — in the progressive caucus. It makes absolutely no sense from a public health perspective.”
New York Democrat Rep. Mondaire Jones said Biden’s inaction on evictions could cost him.
“I think the president and most of his senior advisers are moderate to conservative on a number of these issues and don’t know what it’s like to experience adversity. I think you’ll see a majority of members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is very large, say that they’re not going to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless the reconciliation package is also passed through the Senate,” Jones said.
New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday that Democrats cannot blame Republicans for the eviction moratorium expiring because Democrats control Congress.
“I think there’s a couple of issues here. First of all, you are absolutely correct in that the House and House leadership had the opportunity to vote to extend the moratorium, and there were many, and there was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“And we have to really just call a spade a spade. We cannot in good faith blame the Republican Party when House Democrats have a majority,” she added.
CNN's @jaketapper: Who's to blame for the eviction moratorium expiring?
Rep. @AOC : "There was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote and we have to really just call a spade a spade." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/FXW7o1SIOD
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 1, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez slammed the White House for waiting until last-minute to call for an extension, arguing that the House was put into a “needlessly difficult situation.”
“There is something to be said for the fact that this court order came down on the White House a month ago, and the White House waited until the day before the House adjourned to release a statement asking on Congress to extend the moratorium,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
