Biden administration extends nationwide ban on evictions for one 'final' month through the end of July
- The Biden administration extended a nationwide ban on evictions until July 31.
- The move comes after Democrats called on Biden to extend the ban.
- The White House said it will work with state and local governments to prevent evictions.
The Biden administration on Thursday extended a nationwide ban on evictions through the end of July, as renters recover from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ban, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was set to expire on June 30. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Thursday signed the extension until July 31.
The moratorium is meant to help combat the spread of the coronavirus by keeping people unable to pay rent in their homes rather than in a more crowded setting, such as a homeless shelter, according to the CDC.
This is the third time the CDC order has been extended since it first went into effect in September.
The White House said this will be the "final" extension, but announced a series of actions it would take to help state and local governments prevent evictions, including accelerating the distribution of billions of dollars in emergency rental assistance and encouraging anti-eviction diversion practices to state courts.
The move comes after Biden faced pressure from congressional Democrats and housing advocates to extend the moratorium. A group of 41 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday argued in a letter to Biden that evictions would "take lives and push households deeper into poverty" and that the issue is an "urgent matter of health, racial, and economic justice."
Around 7 million people in the country are currently behind on their rent payments, according to a Census Bureau survey released in June.
Several Democrats hailed the Biden administration's action on Thursday and thanked the White House for moving swiftly on the matter.
Yet not everyone was pleased with the outcome. Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York tweeted: "These are short term solutions for a long term problem. Evictions were harmful before the pandemic and will be harmful after."