Cori Bush prepared to spend 2nd night outside Capitol as eviction moratorium expiration looms
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is prepared to spend another night outside the Capitol building as she seeks to pressure Congress into action with the pandemic-related federal eviction moratorium set to expire on Saturday night, Business Insider reports. Bush slept outside the halls of Congress on Friday night after House Democrats, despite a last-minute scramble before a weeks-long recess, were unable to pass an extension on the moratorium via unanimous consent. Assuming the deadline remains in tact, millions of Americans will reportedly be at risk of eviction.
She told me she only got an hour of sleep because of street noise.
Also notes high eviction filings in areas where Delta cases surging
“We are putting people's lives at risk by making this decision or being inactive”
Bush said she hasn’t heard from House D leadership yet— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) July 31, 2021
Good morning. The eviction moratorium expires tonight at midnight.
We could have extended it yesterday, but some Democrats went on vacation instead.
We slept at the Capitol last night to ask them to come back and do their jobs.
Today’s their last chance. We’re still here. pic.twitter.com/vnwIrAokll— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) July 31, 2021
There's been some finger-pointing over who's to blame for the failure, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggesting that the Biden administration alerted her about its desire for Congress to act and extend the deadline too late. "Really, we only learned about this yesterday," Pelosi told reporters on Friday, adding that there wasn't enough time to whip votes. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was even more straightforward with her criticism, calling it "unacceptable" for President Biden to wait until Thursday to release a statement on the issue.
Rep. AOC on expiration of eviction moratorium: “The fact that the statement came out just yesterday is unacceptable. It is unacceptable. I want to make that very clear because the excuses that we've been hearing about it. I do not accept that.” pic.twitter.com/8Bpqdige2f
— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) July 31, 2021
Meanwhile, no House Republicans supported the extension bid.
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