Biden administration asks the Supreme Court to KEEP the evictions moratorium in place because the pandemic has gotten 'far worse' in the last two months
The Biden administration on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to leave in place a COVID-related federal ban on residential evictions because of 'an unexpected change in the trajectory of the pandemic' while the justices consider a challenge by landlord groups to the ban's legality.
Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acted within its lawful authority this month when it renewed the moratorium through October 3 after it had lapsed at the end of July.
The DOJ referenced the CDC's previous decision to extend the ban until then 'in the absence of an unexpected change' to the pandemic.
'The trajectory of the pandemic has since changed -- unexpectedly, dramatically and for the worse,' the filing states, citing the highly contagious Delta variant.
Groups representing landlords have sought to lift the moratorium, pointing out that even Biden administration officials - and the president himself - have conceded it may not be lawful.
'The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it's not likely to pass constitutional muster,' Biden admitted in early August remarks just after extending the stay. 'But there are several key scholars who think that it may and that it's worth the effort.'
Biden Justice Department lawyers argued against a request to the Supreme Court to grant an emergency stay of the federal evictions ban
He appeared to walk the comments back later, but said a lengthy court process would 'keep this going for a while' after a potential denial and could give some cover to renters.
The CDC first issued an eviction moratorium in September 2020, with agency officials saying the policy was needed to combat the spread of COVID-19 and prevent homelessness during the pandemic.
Realtor groups in Alabama and Georgia were among those challenging the moratorium.
But the court filing claims those parties 'failed to carry their heavy burden to justify vacating their stay' and that their arguments 'lack merit,' urging the Supreme Court to deny their challenges.
Under heavy political pressure from Biden's fellow Democrats, his administration on August 3 issued a slightly narrower eviction moratorium three days after the prior one expired. Biden initially had said that congressional action was needed to renew the moratorium, but his administration reversed course.
In their recent court filing, DOJ lawyers cite statistics that show the seven-day average of new COVID cases are 'nearly a ten-fold increase' over when the case was last before the high court in June.
Government lawyers cited the alarming trajectory of the COVID pandemic over recent months in arguing why granting landlords' request would be harmful
Nearly 630,000 people have died of the virus since March 2020, as hospitals across parts of the US begin to fill up once again
Right now the US is averaging more than 130,000 new cases per day - and CDC projections show the upward trend will continue.
The number of children hospitalized with COVID has also reached a record high.
Another eviction moratorium battle was won by a group of New York landlords two weeks ago when the Supreme Court lifted the state's ban on residential evictions.
The high court granted landlords' emergency request to lift the ban on evictions while the dispute continues to be litigated in court in a 6 to 3 decision.
But the Biden DOJ is arguing against southern landlords looking to overcome the CDC's 60-day federal moratorium issued in early August.
A similar Supreme Court battle over New York State's evictions moratorium ended up in landlords' favor (pictured: a protest advocating against ending the ban in Brooklyn on August 19)
Meanwhile, some US states are seeing new peaks in COVID cases, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant
That extension cited data that showed nearly 7 million renters were behind on rent in June.
That moratorium, due to expire in October, covers nearly 92 percent of US counties, but that could change based on COVID-19 conditions.
Biden's most recent extension came after days of protests in Washington, DC led by Rep. Cori Bush, who slept upright on the Capitol steps for four straight days between the moratorium expiring and when it was extended.
Congressional Democrats had also called on the White House to extend the eviction freeze, but the Centers for Disease Control back then said it cannot find the legal authority to do so after the Supreme Court said the moratorium should only be extended by legislation.
The White House, meanwhile, has called on Congress to extend the freeze, but Democrats haven't wrangled up enough votes to do so before the House went into recess until August 23.
Rep. Cori Bush led a successful protest calling on the Biden administration to extend its previous evictions moratorium, which expired at the end of July
Bush turned the heat up on President Joe Biden. ‘I think the quickest way to get this thing done is for our president to go ahead and get this thing done by an executive order and get it done. He can get it done right now,’ she insisted.
The progressive lawmaker was at times joined by other progressive 'Squad' members, and visited by a number of Democrats showing support.
While Republicans have stood against the new extension - one lawmaker even using it to justify calling for impeachment - Democrats expressed hope the new order would buy time for that money to flow.
'This brand new moratorium will provide time for the money allocated by Congress to flow, as it helps stop the spread of the virus which is worsening due to the delta variant and protects families and landlords,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.