The Supreme Court on Thursday night struck down a federal eviction moratorium that was recently extended by President Joe Biden’s administration without congressional support.
The stunning decision to end the pandemic-related eviction freeze came as a result of a legal challenge to the policy brought by a coalition of landlords and real estate trade groups.
On Aug. 3, the moratorium was extended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite a lack of congressional approval.
The decision was a change of course for the Biden administration, which had initially let the previous ban expire after an earlier Supreme Court ruling on the policy.
In the June ruling, the nation’s highest court left the eviction moratorium in place through July 31.
But Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted to keep the moratorium, said that further extension of the freeze should require approval from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
As recently as last week, a federal appeals court ruled the eviction ban can remain in place and the case was subsequently sent up to the Supreme Court after a group of Alabama and Georgia landlords fighting the policy filed an emergency motion.
The mortarium that was struck down Thursday applied to parts of the country still experiencing a significant spread of COVID-19.
Earlier versions of the ban covered the whole nation.
With Post wires