Protesters surround the LA Superior Court to prevent an upcoming wave of evictions and call on Governor Gavin Newsom to pass an eviction moratorium, amid the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
By David Shepardson and Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday to extend a moratorium on evictions to protect renters and their families that is set to expire this week amid a deadly rise in coronavirus infections, the White House said.
Biden also asked the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs to extend their respective eviction bans through the end of September, the White House said, to protect Americans living in federally insured, single-family properties.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last month it would not extend the eviction moratorium past July 31. The CDC did not immediately comment on Thursday.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to leave in place the CDC’s ban on residential evictions imposed last year to combat the spread of COVID-19 and prevent homelessness during the pandemic.
“In my view, clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was one of five justices who voted to leave the moratorium in place.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said “given the recent spread of the Delta variant, including among those Americans both most likely to face evictions and lacking vaccinations, President Biden would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to further extend this eviction moratorium.”
But she added “unfortunately, the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Doina Chiacu;Editing by Alistair Bell)
