The lawless eviction ban is a policy that has been proposed by President Biden to help protect renters from unfair evictions. However, the policy would allow for landlords to evict tenants without cause and take their property with little recourse.
President Barack Obama signed the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 which prevents landlords from evicting tenants without a good reason. However, in 2014, Joe Biden attempted to change this law by signing an executive order that would allow for eviction notices to be given out arbitrarily.
On August 3, President Joe Biden talks in the East Room of the White House on the eviction moratorium.
Susan Walsh/Associated Press photo
The whole city of Washington erupted in outrage when Donald Trump took action that went beyond his power. President Biden did precisely that on Tuesday, reissuing a national eviction ban after the White House had claimed for months that it lacked the legal power to do so. What’s the reaction within the Beltway? Crickets.
Mr. Biden acknowledged Tuesday that the majority of constitutional research indicates that it is unlikely to pass constitutional test. Only hours later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new eviction prohibition. “But at the very least,” Mr. Biden added, “by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give us some more time while we get that $45 billion out to folks who are in fact behind on their rent and don’t have the money.”
Many presidents have gone beyond their constitutional powers, but this is deliberate illegality. Renters have yet to get pandemic relief money from the government. Mr. Biden has now signed off on an order that he acknowledges he can’t defend in good faith in order to buy time and quiet Democratic opponents.
Before it expired on July 31, the CDC’s initial eviction prohibition, imposed last September under President Trump, was heavily contested. It was overturned by five federal courts, including a panel of the Sixth Circuit. A few judges disagreed, ruling that landlords had not satisfied their burden of proof for obtaining a preliminary injunction. However, the court verdict was heavily in favor of the moratorium.
The government used the Public Health Service Act of 1944 to justify the prohibition. The CDC may mandate “inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, insect eradication, and other measures” to prevent illness, according to the legislation, which also includes a catchall phrase for “other measures.” The feds claimed that this was sufficient legal authorization. However, the difference between “fumigation” and “other methods” isn’t large enough for the government to impose a prohibition that covers virtually every home in America and is punished by a year in prison.
“That interpretation would give the CDC director near-dictatorial power for the length of the epidemic, with authority to shut down whole businesses as freely as she might prohibit evictions,” the Sixth Circuit said. Perhaps the CDC could make vaccinations mandatory or ban layoffs throughout the country. There is no such thing as a limiting principle.
When the case came before the Supreme Court this summer, five Justices decided to keep the eviction restriction in effect until it expired. However, Justice Brett Kavanaugh did so out of deference, stating that the CDC “plans to lift the ban in just a few weeks.” His interpretation of the law was unambiguous: “In my opinion, explicit and specific legislative permission (through new legislation) would be required for the CDC to prolong the ban beyond July 31.”
The White House told Democrats for days that Mr. Biden would not be able to extend the order. “The President has double, treble, and quadruple examined the tires,” a top adviser claimed Monday. “He requested the CDC to look into whether you could conduct a targeted eviction moratorium—one that just applied to counties with higher rates—and they, too, have been unable to establish legal authority.”
Mr. Biden did it anyway the next day, without so much as a legal fig leaf. The CDC’s new ban covers all regions with “substantial or high levels of community transmission,” according to the agency. According to the CDC’s own statistics, that’s 83 percent of counties.
This is a blatant disregard for the rule of law. Attorney General Merrick Garland, where are you? Where are the reports about White House attorneys attempting to persuade the President to change his mind? Mr. Biden seems to have learned from Barack Obama’s “pen and a phone” period that a Democratic President can get away with almost anything. He should be told he can’t by the courts as soon as possible.
Wonder Land: We’ve democratized neurosis thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Walt Disney/Getty Images via Everett Collection Mark Kelly’s composite
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The print version of the August 5, 2021, was published.
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