Squad members AOC, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley protest outside Capitol after Cori Bush spends a night sleeping on the steps as they fight end of eviction moratorium
U.S. Representative Cori Bush, who was evicted three times and lived in her car with her two children before her career in politics, spent a sleepless night on the U.S. Capitol steps to protest the end on Saturday of a pandemic freeze on evictions.
Bush, a progressive Democrat who won her Missouri seat last year, managed about an hour of sleep sitting upright on a camp chair.
Three other progressive lawmakers - Representatives Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - showed up to support her.
Bush remained outside the Capitol on Saturday afternoon urging an Instagram audience to join her demand that Congress, President Joe Biden or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stop the moratorium from expiring.
U.S. Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks to reporters about the upcoming expiration of the pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential evictions from the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Saturday
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also shows up on the steps to show her support
U.S. Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) slept in a deck chair overnight and did several livestreams during the day on Saturday
'We slept at the Capitol last night to ask them to come back and do their jobs. Today's their last chance,' Bush tweeted.
'Today, by midnight, if nothing happens, if no other action is taken from the House, or the Senate or the administration, 7 million people will be at risk for evictions,' the black congresswoman said. 'I've been there myself.'
'This pandemic is not behind us, and our federal housing policies should reflect that stark reality. With the United States facing the most severe eviction crisis in its history, our local and state governments still need more time to distribute critical rental assistance to help keep a roof over the heads of our constituents,' Democratic U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Jimmy Gomez of California and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts said in a joint statement.
People are at risk of eviction because of unpaid rent that accrued during the pandemic, when many lost jobs due to the economic fallout.
U.S. Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) holds up her phone while live streaming from the chair she spent the night in to highlight the upcoming expiration of the pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential evictions
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has been attempting to put pressure on her colleagues in the House, the Senate and the White House to extend the eviction moratorium
A number of supporters joined Bush, center right, at the foot of the Capitol steps
U.S. Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) greets U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) after Warren arrived to support Bush who spent the night on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday
'As of midnight tonight the CDC National Eviction Moratorium is set to expire. Yesterday, instead of the House convening and taking a vote to extend it they moved to a vote to extend it they moved to adjourn on a seven-week recess. It’s simply unacceptable,' said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the Capitol steps on Saturday.
'We cannot be abandoning 11 million Americans that are in need, particularly when the $46 billion emergency rental assistance that we authorized to pay people’s back rent has not gotten out. Governors and municipalities have not released the emergency rental assistance funds so we are asking to extending the moratorium until the funds come because this is simple not folks’ fault that those resources have not gone out.'
Across the country in San Francisco advocates protested outside Nancy Pelosi's home to demand the House Speaker reconvene Congress in order to pass an extension to the moratorium.
Around 40 protestors went to her home and taped an 'eviction notice' to her door with the aim of reminding the speaker that millions of Americans face eviction as of Sunday while she remains comfortable in her home.
Across the country in San Francisco advocates protested outside Nancy Pelosi's home to demand the House Speaker reconvene Congress in order to pass a moratorium extension
Around 40 protestors went to her home and taped an 'eviction notice" to her door with the aim of reminding the speaker that millions of Americans face eviction as of Sunday while she remains comfortable in her home
A sign calling for fighting evictions is set on the ground as Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) spends the night outside the U.S. Capitol to call for for an extension of the federal eviction moratorium on July 31, 2021 in Washington, DC
Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks with supporters as she spends the night outside the U.S. Capitol to call for for an extension of the federal eviction moratorium on July 31
The eviction moratorium, which ends on Saturday at midnight has helped 2 million people stay in their homes who suffered financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic
Two other progressive lawmakers - Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley - showed up to support her
Rep. Cori Bush posted about her experience as she slept on the Capitol steps on Friday night
The CDC imposed the moratorium 11 months ago in part to prevent the spread of the coronavirus through crowding in shelters and homes of people who would take in others.
The House of Representatives adjourned for a seven-week August recess on Friday without renewing the moratorium after a Republican congressman blocked a motion to extend it until October 18. Lacking sufficient support, including among some Democrats, House Democrats opted not to bring legislation to a vote.
Biden on Thursday had asked Congress to extend the moratorium and made clear that his administration would not extend it again without congressional approval.
The moratorium was put in place last September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks with supporters as she spends the night outside the U.S. Capitol
U.S. Representative Cori Bush, who was evicted three times and lived in her car with her two children before her career in politics
Bush, a progressive Democrat who won her Missouri seat last year, managed about an hour of sleep sitting upright on a camp chair
'Given the recent spread of the delta variant, including among those Americans both most likely to face evictions and lacking vaccinations, President Biden would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to further extend this eviction moratorium to protect renters at this moment of heightened vulnerability,' the White House said in a statement. 'Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available.'
The court mustered a bare 5-4 majority last month, to allow the eviction ban to continue through the end of July. One of those in the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, made clear he would block any additional extensions unless there was 'clear and specific congressional authorization.'
More than 6.5 million U.S. households are currently behind on $20 billion in rental payments, according to a study by the Aspen Institute and the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project.
As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau´s Household Pulse Survey.
Housing advocates and some lawmakers have called for the moratorium to be extended due to the increase in coronavirus cases and the fact so little rental assistance has been distributed.
Joe Biden's administration will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday
Congress has allocated nearly $47 billion in rental assistance that is supposed to go to help tenants pay off months of back rent. But so far, only about $3 billion of the first tranche of $25 billion has been distributed through June by states and localities. Some states like New York have distributed almost nothing, while several have only approved a few million dollars.
Opponents of extending the moratorium note the mounting pressure on landlords who have had to keep up with mortgage, insurance and tax payments without rent coming in.
Bush said she had long expected the CDC would extend the moratorium. She now hoped to get enough other lawmakers to help her convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the House back into session and act.
'We need to buy some time so that we can talk to moderate Democrats and ... see how we can work together to get this done,' she told reporters.
She had not heard from Pelosi, who told reporters Friday that she believed the CDC could extend the moratorium.
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