President Joe Biden has said that a Supreme Court ruling prevents him from extending the ban that has prevailed for the past eleven months. He has instead asked Congress to take action, which has stirred the minds of several of Biden’s democratic party colleagues.
More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction because they cannot afford the rent, according to a recent survey.
Republicans have opposed Democrats’ attempts to extend the ban on eviction until mid-October. Thus, the House of Representatives took summer vacation on Friday without extending the ban, which thus expires on 1 August.
Disappointed with Biden
In Congress, many Democrats were shocked that Biden would not challenge the Supreme Court ruling, and that he announced this a few days before the scheme expired.
“We thought the White House decided,” Democrat Maxine Waters told CNN.
Cori Bush and several other progressive Democrats spent the night outside the congress building in protest, criticizing their own party colleagues for lack of action.
“We are a few hours away from a housing crisis that could have been averted,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren.
– We have the tools, and we have the money. What we need is time, she adds.
Millions live in uncertainty
Billions of dollars allocated to protect tenants who cannot afford to pay rent during the pandemic remain unused.
Terriana Clark is among those at risk of being thrown out. She lived in her car with her husband and two stepchildren for much of last year, before getting a teaching job and an apartment in Harvey, Louisiana.
Now the 27-year-old is again unemployed and struggling to pay rent, she tells The New Orleans Advocate. She applied for support from a local aid program four months ago, but is still waiting.
Further north, in Michigan, Mary Hunt is also in arrears with rent on the caravan she lives in. She drives a taxi for the minimum wage, but has been ill with covid-19. Hunt has already been notified of eviction and does not know what to do with her belongings, or her five cats and a dog.
– If I lose this home, they will be with me in the car. And people may think I’m a dope hat, but I do not let go of my family, she says about the pets.
Introduced by the health authorities
The ban on expulsions was introduced by the CDC Infection Control Center as a corona measure to prevent further spread of the disease among the homeless.
Congress has allocated more than $ 400 billion in federal housing assistance to the states during the pandemic, but much of the money has not been transferred. Biden has asked local authorities to take action to immediately pay the funds to homeowners and tenants.
The White House has said that Biden would have preferred to extend the ban on expulsions while the delta variant continues to spread in the United States. But he must also take into account that if he challenges the Supreme Court, it could result in a ruling that limits the government’s ability to deal with future public health crises.
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