THANK YOU MAXINE WATERS for your hard work that secured the extension of the rent moratorium.

[lapucelle]

edited to reflect that there were 100 original Democratic co-sponsors, not 102. Representative Bill Foster and Representative Cori Bush signed on a day later.

August 2, 2021
Los Angeles – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the letter, Congresswoman Waters expresses her strong support for Speaker Pelosi and reiterates her call for President Biden to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to extend the eviction moratorium.

“Due to Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, the Biden administration now states that they do not believe they have the legal authority to extend the CDC eviction moratorium,” wrote Congresswoman Waters. “I would like to point out that the Supreme Court did not rule one way or the other on the legality of the CDC eviction moratorium. In fact, the Court merely declined to take up the emergency appeal from the Alabama Association of Realtors.

To this day, there has not been a ruling on this particular emergency by the Supreme Court that has explicitly and assuredly indicated that the President of the United States cannot extend the CDC eviction moratorium through executive action. In fact, the President has directed the CDC to extend the eviction moratorium in the past and can and should do so once again.”

“In light of the Biden administration's refusal to extend the eviction moratorium and last-minute punt to Congress, our colleagues in the House of Representatives have displayed a tremendous amount of courage and commitment by highlighting the urgent need to extend the moratorium,” added Congresswoman Waters. “Speaker Pelosi, as our nation continues into another day of this eviction emergency, I stand with you as you use all of your power and influence to insist that the CDC move forward and extend the eviction moratorium – something that it has already done in the past.”

https://waters.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/letter-speaker-pelosi-rep-waters-continues-fight-renters

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Representative Water's letter
https://waters.house.gov/sites/waters.house.gov/files/8.2.21%20Pelosi%20CDC%20Eviction%20Moratorium.pdf

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On July 29, 2021, Congresswoman Maxine Waters introduced H.R. 4791, the Protecting Renters from Evictions Act of 2021, which would extend the eviction moratorium until December 31, 2021.

Here's Rep. Waters' bill which has 100 Democratic original co-sponsors (102 total).

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4791/text

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FalloutShelter]

1. Love You, Auntie Maxine.

[malaise]

2. Get thee to the greatest page

RFN!

[lapucelle]

3. I love it when you say that!

[malaise]

6. It's one of the most important issues right now

[JohnSJ]

4. I just heard on Bloomberg that the eviction moratorium is being challenged. I hope Congress has

legislation in place to deal with this if what I heard is accurate

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1275998

[lapucelle]

7. Maxine is on it!

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4791/cosponsors?pageSort=alpha

[JohnSJ]

8. It better be accelerated, that is passed quickly, because I think this is going to be pushed to the

courts quickly

Thanks for the heads up regarding what is happening behind the scenes though, and hats off to Representative Waters

[PunkinPi]

5. K&R, thank you Congresswoman Waters! nt

[NurseJackie]

9. Credit where credit is due! Thank you MAXINE WATERS!

She spends her time WORKING not tweeting and not chasing headlines by threatening to "tank" the Biden administration's agenda. We need more LOYAL and stalwart Democrats just like her!

Maxine Waters is a national treasure. I love her!

[brer cat]

10. +++ nt

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

11. She's wonderful, a true Democrat's Democrat. nt

[Hortensis]

12. Waters and Pelosi both know only achieving progressive goals

can be "progressive." They've worked that reality their entire careers, achieving giant strides when possible, but never stopping, fighting just as hard for each inch of progress when that's what can be accomplished.

[George II]

13. Maxine Waters gets the job done, PERIOD! Representative Waters introduced the bill on July 29 and..

...100 fellow Representatives were original co-sponsors of the bill immediately on that day.

Cori Bush didn't bother to co-sponsor the bill until a day later. I wonder why not?

[lapucelle]

14. Thanks. I corrected the OP for accuracy.

There are 100 Democratic original co-sponsors. Bill Foster and Cori Bush signed on the next day.

[Igel]

15. She's right.

SCOTUS didn't rule on the emergency. It wasn't asked to. In this, it's no different from the other courts.

SCOTUS also didn't explicitly rule that the CDC exceeded its authority. It was asked to reverse a lower court's stay on vacating the moratorium, pending appeal. It did so. In so doing, it implicitly supported the lower court's verdict. That verdict would be this language from the DC district court (https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Alabama-Realtors-HHS.pdf):

The Court recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious public health crisis that
has presented unprecedented challenges for public health officials and the nation as a whole.
The pandemic has triggered difficult policy decisions that have had enormous real-world
consequences. The nationwide eviction moratorium is one such decision.

It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy
measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic. The
question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the
legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not. Because the plain
language of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. § 264(a), unambiguously forecloses the
nationwide eviction moratorium, the Court must set aside the CDC Order, consistent with the
Administrative Procedure Act, see 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(C), and D.C. Circuit precedent, see
National Mining Ass’n, 145 F.3d at 1409.

The entire argument that is made (and which was denied as possible just a few short days ago) seems to be that by making it nationwide in scope but locally applied by context and by rule, it is no longer a "nationwide" eviction moratorium.

Otherwise it uses the same argument: That the PSHA does indeed authorize HHS (i.e., the CDC) to impose an intrastate eviction moratorium to since it's likely that at least some people evicted will certainly cross state lines--and the PSHA does authorize the CDC to impose restrictions on who and what can cross state lines in order to control the spread of a contagion.

[lapucelle]

26. Indeed, Maxine was right & Speaker Pelossi accomplished her two-pronged goal

of getting the moratorium extended while protecting ALL of her members.

CNN finally caught on that the real action was going on backstage.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/04/politics/supreme-court-cdc-eviction-moratorium/index.html

[bluewater]

16. K&R

[betsuni]

17. K&R

[Sympthsical]

18. Uh oh, she blamed the Biden administration

"In light of the Biden administration's refusal to extend the eviction moratorium and last-minute punt to Congress"

Will she get the AOC treatment? I was told AOC was getting slammed because she criticized the Biden administration for the last-minute mess.

I'm very pleased with what many of our House members and Speaker Pelosi have tried to do during this housing crisis. Kudos to all of them.

[Dreampuff]

19. I love Maxine Waters!

I was frustrated when AOC blamed President Biden a few days ago and she wasn't too nice about it considering that the Supreme Court supposedly just made the decision that it was the job of Congress to take care of. I think President Biden is doing a fine job and I would hate to see him in trouble for breaking the law. When it was unclear in the past when he extended it, there shouldn't be a problem, but now I'm not so sure. It may be enough of an issue to get the far right all excited and try to impeach him for doing an illegal act.

I am glad that it is taken care of, even if just temporarily. I'm not sure why the states are having such problems getting money out to the people who need it. Apparently the federal government has given the states most of the money they are supposed to get. Now if only the deserving ones can get their hands on it.

[oldsoftie]

24. The problem is the paperwork involved.

And both landlord & tenant have to fill out paperwork together. Some simply wont do it.

[Sympthsical]

25. I like Waters and Biden, too

I am completely baffled why everything was so last minute. It's not as if we didn't know the deadline was coming. Why wait until a handful of days before to move on it? Very frustrating.

It's been known the SC didn't make any kind of binding ruling. What Kavenaugh said basically is, "If we do have to rule on it, this is how I'll probably come down."

The Biden administration is just using the time between a filed suit and a SC ruling to extend it.

They're taking advantage of any gap left open. It's what they have to do.

[lapucelle]

27. No she didn't. She framed a counter argument as a step in the process. It was masterful

because in the end the solution protected every Democratic member, forestalled criticism of the CDC taking action and laid the whole thing at the feet of Brett Kavanaugh. It appears to have been an effort coordinated between Pelosi, Waters, and Biden.

Outcome: Maxine got the rent moratorium extended, Nancy protected all of her members, and Joe got to make this about Brett Kavanaugh screwing up, rather than the CDC overreaching.

WIN-WIN-WIN

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You didn't read the whole letter did you?

Dear Madam Speaker:
Like you and many of our colleagues, I believe the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has the authority to extend the eviction moratorium. Right now, over 7 million individuals, including children, across this country could face the heartbreaking reality of eviction and homelessness. This is an emergency, but it could have been prevented.

snip===============================================================================================

On June 29, 2021, the Supreme Court kept the CDC’s eviction moratorium in place until July 31, 2021, with five Supreme Court justices voting in the affirmative. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Brett Kavanaugh refused to lift the federal ban on evictions. However, Justice Kavanaugh also issued a concurring opinion that stated, in part, “In my view, clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31.”

Due to Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, the Biden administration now states that they do not believe they have the legal authority to extend the CDC eviction moratorium. I would like to point out that the Supreme Court did not rule one way or the other on the legality of the CDC eviction moratorium. In fact, the Court merely declined to take up the emergency appeal from
the Alabama Association of Realtors. To this day, there has not been a ruling on this particular emergency by the Supreme Court that has explicitly and assuredly indicated that the President of the United States cannot extend the CDC eviction moratorium through executive action. In fact, the President has directed the CDC to extend the eviction moratorium in the past and can and
should do so once again

https://waters.house.gov/sites/waters.house.gov/files/8.2.21%20Pelosi%20CDC%20Eviction%20Moratorium.pdf

[crickets]

33. That is a thing of beauty. Well done, Maxine Waters. nt

[George II]

37. She did not. Not at all. Why bring up the rest of that stuff here - this is a positive....

....development, the fruits of those who have been working on this without fanfare since the Supreme Court ruling on June 29.

Just why?

At least Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Speaker Pelosi, and President Biden have worked on this for weeks to get it done, not waiting until the midnight July 31 deadline to do anything.

Thanks to all of our true blue loyal Democrats who are always looking out for the American people and their overall welfare.

[wnylib]

21. Being homeless at any time

would be bad enough, but horrendously tragic now as delta surges across the country.

[BobTheSubgenius]

22. And Maxine Waters gives her halo a bit of a reburnishing.

Good on you, Maxine, to say the least!

[oldsoftie]

23. Landlords will stop this in court. 18 months is long enough

I've been able to evict, but many states arent following the LAW as written and blocking ALL evictions. They're stopping even for those whose income was not affected by Covid

Disbursement of funds to both landlords & tenants is ridiculously complicated.

[lapucelle]

28. Which states aren't following the law and what law aren't they following?

[oldsoftie]

30. NC for one. Ny for another

The edict says you cant evict for non payment of rent disrupted due to covid. But they're stopping evictions for ANY reason. ALL counties in these states? I dont know. The latest example i know of is in Raleigh. But people I know across the country are having the same problems. Some are not. The Judges give the leeway or they dont. Its subjective even though it shouldnt be. It says what it says.
As i said before, the only ones I've dealt with were never out of work. One perjured right to the judge. I provided proof & the judge gave me the verdict. And told them that he COULD have charged them with perjury. The others i got out for violating the lease. But some places wont accept that even though they should.
And what happens when its over? The tenants will simply move instead of paying X back rent. Yes, they'll have a judgement against them. You'll have to track them down to collect. Not easy.
Vaccines are available to all of us. Jobs are paying more than ever before & are available pretty much everywhere. Its time for this nonsense to stop except in rare cases, such as disability due to covid

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is amazing

Thank you Congresswoman Waters for your tremendous efforts on this issue

[lapucelle]

34. Nancy Pelosi's series of press releases while she, Rep. Waters & Pres. Biden were working together

behind the scenes tells the story of how this got done.

https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/press-releases

Maxine Waters' using Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence to seal the deal was brilliant.

[Cha]

31. Mahalo, Rep Maxine Waters for introducing the

and apparently not getting the credit you deserve.

Thank You, lapucelle , for your OP chocked full of valuable information!

[lapucelle]

32. The coordination involved between Rep Waters, Speaker Pelosi, and Pres. Biden

was masterful. While some in the media were distracted chasing photo ops and twitter feeds, a Democratic representative, a Democratic speaker, and a Democratic president were working out the plan to get it done.

MAHALO my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cha]

35. Well Done, Rep Waters, Speaker Pelosi, &

Pres Joe Biden!

Mahalo to you for explaining it so well and shining a light on it!

[Me.]

36. It's Always This Way Isn't It?

THe doers do, simple as that. Thank you Representative Waters...

[sheshe2]

38. She is a true Gem.

Maxine Waters has served this country well.

[lapucelle]

40. It was brilliant...and the press chased red herrings and expressed "concern"

until the moment the deal was done.

They even missed all the clues in Speaker Pelosi's strategic release of a series of statements, press releases, and "Dear Colleague" missives.

A joy to behold.

[JustAnotherGen]

39. She's wonderful

She will always sacrifice air time for actually doing her job.

[Dreampuff]

41. There is an issue with this

Has anyone heard any updates on this?
The Biden Administration was required to answer to a judge by today as to why the CDC extended this .

[lapucelle]

43. There are at least nine ongoing lawsuits from landlords groups that predate the Supreme Court ruling

and the current extension. A new one was filed on Wednesday. The lawsuits are at various stages. Which one are you talking about?

[MustLoveBeagles]

42. Thank you Maxine Waters!

[murielm99]

44. TY Maxine Waters!

[Hekate]

45. I am too old to call her Auntie Maxine, but I do love and admire her to bits