SCOTUS throws out Biden administration eviction moratorium

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The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration's Covid-related eviction moratorium.

"Congress was on notice that a further extension would almost surely require new legislation, yet it failed to act in the several weeks leading up to the moratorium's expiration," the court wrote in an unsigned, eight-page opinion.

"If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it," the court said.

The three liberal justices dissented publicly, citing the spike in Covid-19 cases and the Delta variant.

This latest round of litigation was prompted by the version of the moratorium rolled out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on August 3, days after the last iteration of the moratorium had expired.

Landlord groups challenging the eviction ban pointed to a concurrence written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh when the earlier version of the moratorium was before the Supreme Court in June. Kavanaugh joined four other justices in letting the moratorium survive then, but he said he was only doing so because it was scheduled to expire on July 31 and said Congress had to act in order to extend it.