White House press secretary Jen Psaki sidestepped questions Wednesday about whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium will be extended by another month.
The moratorium has blocked the eviction of roughly 6 million households that are behind on rent, according to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau. It expires on June 30.
When pressed about the issue at a White House press briefing, Ms. Psaki took a neutral position for President Biden.
“The decision to extend the eviction moratorium will be made by the CDC based on public health conditions and we certainly wouldn’t want to get ahead of their assessment,” she said.
Ms. Psaki added that the eviction ban was always intended to be temporary.
“The president remains focused on ensuring that Americans who are struggling through no fault of their own have an off-ramp once [the moratorium] ends, hence we’ve worked to take additional steps to ensure people are getting the support they need to stay in their homes,” she said.
Democrats are urging Mr. Biden to extend the eviction ban that was first issued by the CDC in September. Under federal law, the CDC has the power to enact certain policies to prevent diseases from crossing state lines.
Congress and the White House have extended the policy three times, and landlords have challenged it in courts. The National Association of Realtors this month asked the Supreme Court to hear their case.
A group of 44 House Democrats a letter Tuesday to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky raising alarms that millions of renters will face the threat of eviction without an extension of the moratorium.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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