President Biden told reporters at the White House on Tuesday: “Well, look, the courts made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional; it wouldn’t stand. And they made that clear back in, I guess, July 15th or July 18th.”
It was on June 29th that Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had “exceeded its existing statutory authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium.” He said Congress needed to legislate the moratorium.
On Tuesday, President Biden said he’s conferred with constitutional scholars, and the “bulk” of them say the most recent CDC order is “not likely to pass constitutional muster.”
“But,” he added, “there are several key scholars who think that it may and it’s worth the effort.”
So Biden asked the CDC “to go back and consider other options that may be available to them.”
“Whether that option will pass constitutional muster…I can’t tell you,” Biden said. “ I don’t know. There are a few scholars who say it will and others who say it’s not likely to.
“But, at a minimum, by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting that $45 billion out to people who are, in fact, behind in the rent and don’t have the money.”