Covid Coffins. (Associated Press)
This story began when Brett Kavanaugh and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 opinion that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not have the authority to impose a moratorium on all evictions. This ruling it must be noted came within one vote of an opposite decision, during a pandemic which makes it impossible to earn money to pay rent.
It must also be noted that the legal issue before the Supreme Court was the CDC's authority to impose an eviction moratorium that would broadly prohibit all evictions across the board.
The current administration has accepted this ruling as a limitation instead on its authority to declare a moratorium more narrowly, on any evictions at all.
We did not know that, or at least I did not know that, until the moratorium expired. However I and everyone else who knew anything about what I have said so far knew that the eviction moratorium was expiring July 31, 2021.
The CDC reportedly looked for authority to declare a moratorium on evictions of the people who are most heavily impacted during the pandemic, and reportedly the CDC found no authority. They just announced that.
What if anything has this administration done between the time that Mr. Kavanaugh wrote his opinion for the Supreme Court, and the time that the eviction moratorium expired on July 31? In terms of the eminently foreseeable mass evictions that would ensue without a moratorium, I mean. We know that this administration has been very busy holding many, many meetings to talk with Republicans in what this administration calls a compromise on building roads.
If they have been doing anything in terms of the risk of mass evictions, we do not know it. We do know, however, that now this administration is rightly blaming the States for inaction in distributing federal funds to landlords so that the landlords do not evict their tenants who are behind on their rent.
But we have known for months about the slowness of the States in distributing federal funds which were appropriated to rescue America, not only to prevent evictions but to address many other issues as well. Looking at just the distribution of eviction prevention monies, we knew long before today that the States were dragging their feet, or to put it differently, taking their time. So why is this news to this administration now?
This administration came to power with the votes of many of the people who are facing the threat of eviction as a result of inaction. And it's not a risk caused only by the inaction of States. In a continuing pandemic, it's a deadly risk that's caused as well by the inaction of this administration. They came to power talking the talk.
Now they need to walk the talk. Even better, they need to walk the walk. If it's not too late already.
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