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Biden rips states for sitting on billions in rental aid as he lets eviction ban end

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President Joe Biden slammed state leaders Friday for sitting on billions 
in rental aid as the eviction moratorium is set to expire on Saturday.

Biden called on state and local governments to disperse the Emergency 
Rental Assistance funding they received in February.

"Five months later, with localities across the nation showing that they 
can deliver funds effectively – there can be no excuse for any state or 
locality not accelerating funds to landlords and tenants that have been 
hurt during this pandemic," Biden said in a statement.

"Every state and local government must get these funds out to ensure we 
prevent every eviction we can," Biden continued.

Lawmakers have been shifting the responsibility of letting the moratorium 
lapse.

Earlier this week, the president called on Congress to extend the eviction 
ban just days before the moratorium was set to expire, saying his 
administration would have "strongly supported" the decision to renew the 
ban but claimed to be unable to do so citing a ruling from the Supreme 
Court.

"In June, when CDC extended the eviction moratorium until July 31st, the 
Supreme Court's ruling stated that 'clear and specific congressional 
authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to 
extend the moratorium past July 31,'" White House Press Secretary Jen 
Psaki said in a statement.

According to Washington Post reporter Seung Min Kim, when she asked "why 
the administration waited until this week to push this to Congress — the 
White House insisted it had been 'having conversations with Congress for 
some time about this.'"

However, a House Democratic aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, 
told Insider that the White House statement on Thursday "just didn't leave 
enough time."

"Their statement hit us totally out of the blue, nobody was expecting it," 
the aide said.

On the House floor on Friday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House 
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, asked for unanimous 
consent on extending the eviction moratorium before the House adjourned 
ahead of the deadline at the end of July.

The vote failed upon one objection, and the House is scheduled to 
reconvene until late September, pending any "significant legislation" that 
could call them into session sooner.

After the bill failed, Pelosi, Hoyer and House Majority whip Rep. James 
Clyburn wrote a statement expressing their disappointment. Earlier in the 
week and as late as Thursday, members of the House reportedly believed 
that the White House would extend the moratorium on it's own.

"It is extremely disappointing that House and Senate Republicans have 
refused to work with us on this issue," they wrote after the vote. "We 
strongly urge them to reconsider their opposition to helping millions of 
Americans and instead join with us to help renters and landlords hit 
hardest by the pandemic and prevent a nationwide eviction crisis."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that her and Rep. Cori Bush, " tried 
to object to the House adjourning session and force a roll call on whether 
we should leave."

"They rushed to adjourn before we could get to the floor," she wrote.

Around 6 million Americans are at risk of getting evicted in the coming 
months, or 16% of all renters, per Census Pulse Survey Data, after the 
moratorium expires on July 31.


https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-rips-states-sitting-on-rental-aid-
eviction-ban-ends-2021-7

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Biden rips states for sitting on billions in rental aid as he lets eviction ban end buh buh biden <drooler@gmail.com> - 2021-07-31 05:57 +0000

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