In Friday’s filing, the landlords pointed to how the Supreme Court handled the moratorium when it reached the justices at an earlier stage in the litigation in June. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to let it continue, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the swing vote in favor of the moratorium, indicated at the time he would not uphold it if it was extended again past July 31.
“Confirming the point, every federal appellate judge to have considered the question since the Supreme Court’s order has either concluded or strongly suggested that the CDC exceeded its statutory authority,” the landlord groups said in Saturday’s filing.
After a judge allowed the Biden administration’s revised eviction moratorium to remain in place Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that the Biden administration believed it was “a proper use of its lawful authority to protect the public health.”
“We are pleased that the district court left the moratorium in place, though we are aware that further proceedings in this case are likely,” Psaki said.
Psaki repeated the President’s call for state and local officials and judges to “issue local eviction moratoriums and move aggressively to distribute the $46.5 billion in emergency rental assistance funds” from Covid relief packages.
