White House defends its decision not to extend the federal eviction moratorium
Biden then called on “Congress to extend the eviction moratorium to protect such vulnerable renters and their families without delay.”
Biden’s statement caught some Democrats by surprise, and with the House scheduled to adjourn for almost two months of recess the following day, party leaders scrambled to determine what steps they could take.
But it quickly became clear that Pelosi lacked the votes within her own caucus to extend the ban.
This was in part because Democratic House members knew that even if they voted to pass an extension, it would be DOA in the Senate, where Democrats hold just a one-vote majority. Republicans are universally opposed to extending the ban.
Over the weekend, Pelosi and Democratic leaders tossed the ball back into Biden’s court.
“Action is needed, and it must come from the Administration,” Pelosi said in a statement signed by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C. and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark, D-Mass.
At the White House briefing on Monday, Sperling said that slightly fewer than 2 million renters are under imminent threat of eviction.
But that estimate is significantly lower than the roughly 3.6 million Americans in early July who said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
Sperling also noted that several states have instituted their own eviction moratoriums that will persist despite the end of the federal one.
He pressed states to use the $45 billion in Covid rental relief funds authorized by Congress this spring, of which only about $3 billion has been used so far.
“If states and local governments rise to this great resources that this Congress wisely gave to them, there is every reason to believe that they could have a substantial effect in mitigating these evictions,” he said.
The Biden administration will not give up searching for ways to help renters, he added. “We’re going to look for every bit of authority, or persuasion, or guidance that we can make.”
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/02/white-house-defends-its-decision-not-to-extend-the-eviction-moratorium.html