AOC: House Dems, Biden fail to extend the eviction moratorium [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) held the Democratic House leadership and Biden administration responsible over the expiration of the eviction moratorium.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) blamed the GOPs for their inaction.
• AOC said that over 11 million renters are lagging behind their payment rentals.

During her exclusive interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, progressive Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) blamed the Democratic House leadership and the Biden administration for letting the country’s eviction moratorium to expire.

The House already adjourned Friday sans the moratorium extension, which expired on Sunday, that would aid American renters while the pandemic still looms.

AOC stressed that the House leadership had a chance until last week to carry a vote that could have extended the moratorium, but noted that “there were frankly a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote.”

“We have to really just call a spade a spade. We cannot in good faith blame House Republicans when Democrats have the majority,” she told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

AOC also called out the White House for not openly instructing the Congress to extend the moratorium, which only got a little extension after the Supreme Court favored the policy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in connection with the pandemic.

“We asked the Biden administration for their stance, and they were not being really forthright about that advocacy and that request until the day before the House adjourned,” she said. “The House was put into a needlessly difficult situation.”

Politico reported that last week, top Democrats were working on a proposal to extend the moratorium for up to three months. The proposal, though, did not get enough support from the party’s conservative wing. 

On the other hand, House Democratic leaders have put the blame on their GOP colleagues over their inaction. In a tweet on Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) said: “In an act of pure cruelty, Republicans blocked this measure – leaving children and families out on the streets.”

In a bid to attract more people about the matter, AOC and other progressive House Democrats like Reps. Ayanna Pressley (MA.), Cori Bush (MO.) and Ilhan Omar (MN.) have set a camp outside the US Capitol steps since Friday.

On the other hand, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg shielded Biden against critics when asked if his office had neglected the concern.

“The president enthusiastically supports the movement to extend this, but we’re not waiting for that and haven’t been. There have been steps at every level using every lever available to this administration throughout, and will continue to be,”  Buttigieg told ABC’s This Week Sunday.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also defended the president last Friday, saying that the administration has been “having conversations with Congress for some time.”

Over 11 million renters in the US are indebted to their landlords, according to AOC.

Source: USA Today