By Hanna Park
(WASHINGTON) The Biden administration requested the Supreme Court to leave a temporary nationwide pause on evictions in place, The Hill reported.
In a 38-page filing, endorsed by more than 20 Democratic state attorneys general, the Biden administration backed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium to help financially struggling renters remain sheltered amid the pandemic.
The appeal comes after a group of landlords asked the court last week to end the CDC policy.
Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and Washington, D.C., backed the administration’s stance on Thursday in a court brief submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency matters.
“Recognizing that the ability to stay home and quarantine is an essential part of the pandemic response, the CDC Order ... has been critical in helping states limit the spread of COVID-19,” the attorneys general wrote.
The Alabama Association of Realtors and several co-plaintiffs had challenged the CDC moratorium in the federal court in D.C., citing that landlords have been losing $13 billion each month under the ban.
In May, the realtor group secured a legal victory after District Judge Dabney Friedrich in D.C. struck down the moratorium as government overreach.
But the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected the landlords' request to lift the policy, resulting in the group's emergency request to the Supreme Court.
“[T]he total effect of the CDC’s overreach may reach up to $200 billion if it remains in effect for a year,” they wrote.