AOC Slams Democrats, White House for Failure to Extend Eviction Moratorium: We Cannot Blame the GOP For This

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused the Biden administration and her fellow Democrats of falling asleep at the wheel now that America’s moratorium on residential evictions has expired.

For months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed a federal ban of rental evictions during the covid-19 pandemic. The moratorium lapsed over the weekend, which means the country could soon face a housing crisis while Covid cases are rising because of the highly contagious delta variant.

Last week the Biden administration called on Congress to extend the moratorium. An extension did not pass before the deadline, and now Congress is in recess for August, leaving the situation for tenets and landlords up in the air.

Ocasio-Cortez joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday to talk about this, and she was asked who was to blame for the eviction deadline lapse. Tapper pointed out that Democrats currently control the House and the Senate, and Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying, “We have to really just call a spade a spade.”

“There were many, frankly a handful, of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote,” the congresswoman said. “We cannot, in good faith, blame the Republican Party when House Democrats have the majority.”

Ocasio-Cortez then directed her focus at the White House, referring to how the Biden administration’s final effort came about a month after the Supreme Court shot down their attempt to extend the moratorium without Congress’ approval. She chewed out the White House for waiting “until the day before the House adjourned” to release a statement and not establishing a stance on it when asked to do so before.

“They were not being really forthright until that advocacy and that request until the day before the House adjourned,” Ocasio-Cortez. She further charged that “the House was put into a needlessly difficult situation” because of this, and she lambasted the slow rollout of housing assistance.

Watch above, via CNN.

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