An escalating blame game between President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats over the expiration of the federal eviction ban has left local officials frustrated and scrambling to deal with a wave of renters now at risk of losing their homes.
The Biden administration on Monday rebuffed calls from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats to revive the eviction moratorium, which expired Saturday, after unsuccessfully leaning on Congress to enact its own ban last week.
The White House said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lacked legal authority to reinstitute the eviction prohibition — even on a limited or targeted basis — because the Supreme Court had made clear it believed the CDC overstepped its authority.
Facing a deadlock, Pelosi and White House officials pleaded with governors and mayors to fill the void, in part by speeding up the delivery of more than $46.5 billion in federal rental assistance that has languished as state and local governments struggled to stand up programs to deliver the funds. Local officials complained that the finger-pointing was unhelpful.
