Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government By Kaelan Deese
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday blamed ‘conservative Democrats’ for allowing the federal eviction moratorium to expire overnight, causing millions of residents to be left at risk of removal from their homes.
The federal eviction moratorium expired at midnight on Saturday despite efforts by top Democrats to expand the legislation that had been extended multiple times throughout the pandemic. During a Sunday interview on CNN, Ocasio-Cortez contended that the “House and House leadership had the opportunity to vote to extend the moratorium.”
“And there were many, and there was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote,” the New York Democrat added.
President Joe Biden was adamant about extending the moratorium but made his vocal call for House lawmakers to extend it on Thursday, three days before it was set to expire.
CNN's @jaketapper: Who's to blame for the eviction moratorium expiring?
Rep. @AOC : "There was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote and we have to really just call a spade a spade." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/FXW7o1SIOD
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 1, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez criticized the short notice, calling it a “needlessly difficult situation.”
“There is something to be said for the fact that this court order came down on the White House a month ago and the White House waited until the day before the House adjourned to release a statement asking on Congress to extend the moratorium,” she said, referencing a 5-4 Supreme Court order on the moratorium allowing it to stay in place.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh voted for the extension on June 29 but said he would not vote to extend it again, a move House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “disappointed” her in a July 31 letter.
The House adjourned for a six-week recess on Friday without gathering the votes to extend the moratorium to Oct. 18. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer attempted to pass the Protecting Renters from Evictions Act of 2021 by unanimous consent, but Republicans ultimately objected.
Ocasio-Cortez called on the House to reconvene to hold a vote to reinstate the moratorium.
“The fact of the matter is that the problem is here. The House should reconvene and call this vote and extend the moratorium,” she said. “There’s about 11 million people that are behind on their rent at risk of eviction. That’s one out of every six renters in the United States.”
Pelosi has not signaled plans to reconvene over the eviction moratorium.
