While the nationwide eviction moratorium ended July 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday released a more limited moratorium, saying that evicting people could be detrimental to public health and would interfere with efforts to slow the pandemic. The new ban will last until Oct. 3 and applies to areas of the nation with high or substantial transmission of COVID-19. According to CNN, a source familiar with the effort said the announcement would cover 80% of U.S. counties and 90% of the population.
"In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria—like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing—can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease. Eviction moratoria facilitate self-isolation and self-quarantine by people who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting COVID-19 by keeping people out of congregate settings and in their own homes," the CDC statement read.
President Biden said earlier Tuesday the new eviction ban would be different from the previous one. But he openly acknowledged it would likely face legal scrutiny, and said the time it takes for the court process to unfold will allow for emergency rental assistance to reach troubled tenants.
Biden said he'd sought out constitutional scholars to advise him on a path forward after the Supreme Court's ruling, and said the "bulk" of them warned an eviction moratorium was "not likely to pass constitutional muster." But he said "several key scholars" told him it might, and he decided it would be worth the risk if it allowed extra time for already-allocated emergency rental funds to reach Americans who need them.
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