The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the Biden administration’s newest federal ban on evictions, granting a bid from a group of landlords to block the pandemic-related protections for renters facing eviction in most of the country. In an unsigned opinion with the three liberal justices in dissent, the divided court said that « careful review » of the case « makes clear that the applicants are virtually certain to succeed on the merits of their argument that the CDC has exceeded its authority. » « It would be one thing if Congress had specifically authorized the action that the CDC has taken. But that has not happened, » the court said. « Instead, the CDC has imposed a nationwide moratorium on evictions in reliance on a decades-old statute that authorizes it to implement measures like fumigation and pest extermination. It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the CDC the sweeping authority that it asserts. » The court said that « if a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it. » The White House issued a statement late Thursday, saying the Biden administration is « disappointed » the Supreme Court blocked the moratorium amid another surge in COVID-19 cases. « In light of the Supreme Court ruling and the continued risk of COVID-19 transmission, President Biden is once again calling on all entities that can prevent evictions – from cities and states to local courts, landlords, Cabinet Agencies – to urgently act to prevent evictions, » White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer noted the recent spike in COVID-19 transmission rates and warned that allowing evictions to resume could have dangerous public health consequences. « The CDC targets only those people who have nowhere else to live, in areas with dangerous levels of community transmission, » wrote Breyer, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
