News of the Day August 4, 2021
CDC Issues Eviction Moratorium Extension

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday issued a moratorium on evictions targeting areas of the country with high levels of COVID-19 transmission, extending an eviction ban for much of the nation just days after a blanket moratorium had expired.

The CDC order applies to counties experiencing significant levels of virus spread, defined by the agency as 50 to 100 cases per 100,000 people. A congressional source said the order will likely apply to roughly 90 percent of the renter population in the U.S. The order will expire on October 3.

President Biden acknowledged at a news conference earlier Tuesday that the CDC order may not hold up in court. But he argued it would minimally buy time for state and local governments to distribute aid to renters and landlords.

The Supreme Court upheld the CDC’s moratorium, reversing a ruling from a federal appeals court on June 29, but warned that a further extension of the ban beyond its July 31 deadline would exceed the agency’s authority unless Congress passed a law to expand it.