Millions of Americans—mainly lower and middle-income workers—lost their jobs last year amid the pandemic and couldn’t pay the rent. Congress ena

The Coming Eviction Crisis

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2021-08-03 17:00:05

Millions of Americans—mainly lower and middle-income workers—lost their jobs last year amid the pandemic and couldn’t pay the rent. Congress enacted a limited and temporary moratorium on evictions, which ended in July 2020.

To avoid worsening a public-health crisis, President Trump issued an executive order asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to step in. Citing its authority under the Public Health Service Act of 1944, the CDC responded in September with a broader moratorium, which has been extended several times through a new law and administrative actions. In March, the Biden administration extended the ban until the end of June, later updated to the end of July. The administration stated that the CDC wouldn’t extend the moratorium further unless there was a new surge in coronavirus cases.

Two key events have happened since then. The first is a June 29 Supreme Court decision. States brought lawsuits challenging the CDC’s authority, and five justices agreed to allow the moratorium to stand. But one member of the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, stated that the CDC had exceeded its authority and that the moratorium couldn’t be lawfully extended beyond the end of July without “clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).”