Two progressive lawmakers, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), are teaming up to introduce legislation that would give a major government agency the power to implement an eviction moratorium. The effort comes weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not have the power to implement the edict in the long term, and that Congress had to pass the appropriate legislation. Democrats were unable to garner the votes to pass a moratorium on evictions for the long-term.
Still, Warren and Bush hope to give the power to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Bush was a proponent of the eviction moratorium and urged the high court, unsuccessfully, to let it stand.
“When the Supreme Court blocked the eviction moratorium, I promised that we would not stop working until every family could stay safely in their homes,” she wrote in a tweet. “This week, @SenWarren and I are introducing a bill to reinstate the eviction moratorium and save lives.”
Warren said that renters need protection from “needless eviction,” ignoring the obvious consequences for landlords.
"This pandemic isn’t over, and we have to do everything we can to protect renters from the harm and trauma of needless eviction, which upends the lives of those struggling to get back on their feet," Warren said. "Pushing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes will only exacerbate this public health crisis and cause economic harm to families, their communities and our overall recovery," Warren told USA Today in a statement.
The Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 will be introduced later this week.