US Supreme Court halts Prez Joe Biden's eviction moratorium, thousands risk losing homes

Putting thousands of tenants at risk, the US Supreme Court ended US President Joe Biden's eviction moratorium on 26 August. The decision followed an eight-page opinion from the jury indicating that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-imposed nationwide moratorium had exceeded its authority. Thursday's ruling marked the complete end of the CDC order issued on "temporarily halting evictions in the country with heightened levels of community transmission."

"Our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends" the US Supreme Court opinion read.

"The Center for Disease Control and prevention has imposed a nationwide moratorium on evictions in Reliance on a decades-old statute that authorises it to implement measures like fumigation and text extermination," the court said. The opinion also clarified that the CDC does not have the "sweeping authority" to enact this ban amid a skyrocketing pandemic. The decision is expected to impact over 3.5 million households who are at the risk of eviction over the next two months, NY Intelligencer reported.

"If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue Congress must specifically authorise it," the US Supreme Court opinion read

The Thursday ruling superseded the June 2021 order that allowed CDC's eviction ban to stand until its expiration date. Even though the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats had a month-long time to ensure an "orderly distribution" of assistance to renters, they rushed at the end of the month to cover the Americans at risk, Justice Brett Kavanaugh was quoted by NY Intelligencer as saying.

Meanwhile, the federal government is also struggling to speed the flow of funding to eligible renters. Only about $5.1 billion out of $46.5 billion sanctioned was disbursed until Wednesday due to bureaucratic delays at state and local levels, according to the New York Times.

'The ruling puts thousands of tenants at severe health risk'

Following the court ruling, Justice Stephen G Breuer pointed out the haste in decision-making in this particular case. "These questions call for considered decision making informed by full briefing and argument. Their answers impact the health of millions we should not set aside the CDC's eviction moratorium in this summary proceeding," Justice Breuer said.

The ban is said to lapse on 31 August putting hundreds and thousands of citizens at risk of losing their homes amidst the raging COVID-19 wave in the country. The last CDC-imposed moratorium put in place in September 2020 had ended in July 2021. However, the Supreme Court in its June ruling forbade the Biden administration to renew the moratorium. Nevertheless, on 3 August, the White House, under political pressure from Democrats, had issued a new notice that was the subject of the current ruling.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: Shutterstock/AP/Representative)