CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Presses WH Official on Why It ‘Took So Long’ for Biden Admin to Publicly Push on Extending Eviction Moratorium

CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins questioned White House American Rescue Plan coordinator Gene Sperling Monday about why the Biden administration didn’t publicly push sooner for an eviction moratorium extension.

The federal eviction moratorium established by the Centers for Disease Control during the covid-19 pandemic expired this past weekend. Sperling said at the briefing they’ve faced “a very difficult obstacle” from the June Supreme Court ruling that kept the moratorium in place only for one more month.

“We’re going to do everything we can,” Sperling said. The White House said this past week Congress should extend the moratorium, but that ultimately didn’t happen, and some Democrats are frustrated with the administration over this.

Collins picked up on Sperling saying the White House was spurred on by the spread of the Delta variant. She said, “The Delta variant has been around for weeks, and has been the dominant strain in the United States for several weeks as well.”

“So why did the president wait until Sunday to ask the CDC for a targeted moratorium focused on those areas with high case rates?” she sked.

Sperling again insisted President Joe Biden is doing what he can within his power, “looking at every possible authority we can do.”

He said a few times at the briefing that the president wants to “double-, triple-, quadruple-check” everything on this.

Collins followed up by noting the argument from progressive Democrats that “you got this ruling from the Supreme Court at the end of June, so why did it take so long to call on Congress to act if it is so important to him, why did it take so long to go to the CDC for this 30-day moratorium he was seeking.”

You can watch the full exchange above, via C-SPAN.