Don’t blame the U.S. Supreme Court for ending the COVID eviction moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control on Aug. 3, which was supposed to run until Oct. 3. A high court majority warned explicitly two months ago that most of the justices read the law as only allowing Congress to impose such a freeze. The CDC went ahead anyway and tried it by regulation, stretching the limits of the law, and the court was true to its word.
The Biden administration had a good inkling this was going to happen; its actions succeeded only in buying a few weeks of time. Now, as the court concludes, “if a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it.” So Congress should do it. New York’s (Supreme Court-weakened) moratorium remains in place until Tuesday, and Gov. Kathy Hochul is rightly considering a special session of the Legislature to extend it.
There is nothing in the 6-3 Supreme Court opinion that discounts the threat of COVID’s delta variant or the importance of keeping people in their homes when bills come due. The question is who can enact the moratorium. The answer, according to the prevailing side, is Capitol Hill. The expiration of the protections lies at the feet of the House and the Senate, now enjoying their summer vacations as their constituents are at risk of being thrown on the street.
With millions of Americans having lost jobs and fallen behind in rent during the pandemic, evictions would have only made matters worse, without helping landlords. That was the sound logic of the original freeze passed by Congress. Congress also set aside nearly $50 billion to pay the back rent, making landlords whole.
The problem is that the states have done a fantastically poor job of distributing the rent aid. Laggard New York has only tapped $800 million, just a third of the cash sent by Washington. Hochul is wisely pushing to speed it up and reminding renters that once you apply, you’re protected. Hurry.
