Cori Bush and Elizabeth Warren team up in fight to extend eviction moratoriums

Washington DC – Missouri Rep. Cori Bush and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are joining forces to introduce legislation that would enable future eviction moratoriums.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (l.) and Rep. Cori Bush are introducing legislation to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to issue eviction moratoriums.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (l.) and Rep. Cori Bush are introducing legislation to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to issue eviction moratoriums.  © Collage: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire & IMAGO / UPI Photo

This week, the Democratic duo plan on releasing the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021, aimed at permanently allowing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue eviction moratoriums in times of public health crisis, USA Today reported.

The legislative proposal comes after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's efforts to renew an eviction moratorium in August.

The court ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an arm of the HHS, does not have the authority to issue eviction freezes.

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In defending the court's decision, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, "Clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31."

Now Bush and Warren are doing just that, arguing in their bill that evicting large numbers of people could make it more likely for diseases like Covid-19 to spread and the HHS should be able to issue eviction freezes to prevent that possibility.

Bush told USA Today, "This is the only way we make sure that we are keeping people safe, especially now that we are dealing with this pandemic that continues to surge and is just out of control."

It is unclear whether Democrats will have enough supporters in the Senate to pass the legislation, as they would need all 50 of their own Party members plus 10 Republicans to vote in favor.

Bush said she hopes to pass the bill through a continuing resolution, a temporary measure that allocates funding for government agencies to prevent a shutdown.

If that strategy fails, the bill's path to the White House unfortunately doesn't look too promising.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire & IMAGO / UPI Photo

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