Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three libertarians to halt the moratorium.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett said they would be allowed to dismiss the petition.
The current moratorium is set to expire on Wednesday. But last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced what she said was an extension of time. It is “final” until July 31. In a statement, she said the pandemic had presented “Historical threats to the nation’s public health” and “keeping people in their homes and away from crowded or gathering places such as homeless shelters.” Preventing evictions is an important step in helping to stop the spread of Covid-1
9.”homeowner group real estate company And the real estate trade association asked a judge to come in — in case of emergency — arguing that “Congress has never given the CDC the enormous amount it currently claims.”
They argued that the moratorium resulted in “Over $13 billion in rent arrears per month.”
The district court ruled against the government. It is considered that the moratorium is illegal. But then the court withheld the verdict pending an appeal. The DC Circuit refused to lift the stay.
Acting Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar called on the judge to allow the moratorium to be in effect now. She told the judge in court papers that federal law allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the CDC, to apply regulations to “Prevent the introduction, transmission or spread of communicable diseases” from one state to another.
She said the housing eviction moratorium was “temporary” and was necessary because evictions would increase the risk of spreading Covid by forcing tenants to move in together or become people. homeless
late Thursday She wrote to update the judge on the new extension. Prelogar said the order was extended after June 30 to avoid The “wave of repulsion” she said could have numbered. “Hundreds of thousands” this summer and early fall.
Kavanaugh agrees.
as he often does. Kavanaugh wrote to explain why he voted for the moratorium to persist. on the other side He said he agreed with the district court that the CDC exceeded its legal powers by issuing a nationwide moratorium.
But he said the CDC had said it would end the moratorium in a few weeks. He will let it remain where it was. He said more weeks would be “Allows for a more reasonable and appropriate distribution of the rent subsidy fund.”
However, Kavanaugh made it clear that If the government is to extend the moratorium after July 31, it must be “specifically approved by Congress”.
This story has been updated with more details.
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