The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision Thursday night to end the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) nationwide eviction moratorium, which was set to expire Oct. 3. In its ruling, the court said the CDC did not have the power to unilaterally extend the moratorium, stating “it’s up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here.”
“The Biden administration is disappointed that the Supreme Court has blocked the most recent CDC eviction moratorium while confirmed cases of the delta variant are significant across the country,” stated White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “As a result of this ruling, families will face the painful impact of evictions, and communities across the country will face greater risk of exposure to COVID-19.”
Housing organizations have had mixed reactions to the ruling, with those advocating for the most vulnerable renters saying the nationwide eviction moratorium was a lifeline for keeping families safely and stably housed during the pandemic.
“The tragic, consequential, and entirely avoidable outcome of this ruling will be millions of people losing their homes this fall and winter, just as the delta variant ravages communities and lives,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “Evictions risk lives and drive families deeper into poverty. During a pandemic, evictions further burden overstretched hospital systems and make it much more difficult for the country to contain the virus. Evictions have been shown to increase spread of, and potentially deaths from, COVID-19. For families and individuals, evictions are profoundly traumatizing and destabilizing. For the country, evictions are expensive. The tragic consequences of this decision will reverberate for years.”
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