“If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it,” the court wrote in an unsigned, eight-page opinion.
The three liberal justices dissented.
This latest round of litigation was prompted by the version of the moratorium rolled out by the US Centers for Disease and Prevention on August 3, days after the last iteration of the moratorium had expired.
In a brief filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, the Biden administration said the Delta variant of the coronavirus had propelled a new surge of cases in recent weeks, justifying the new extension. “The trajectory of the pandemic has since changed — unexpectedly, dramatically, and for the worse. As of August 19, 2021, the seven-day average of daily new cases is 130,926, nearly a ten-fold increase over the rate when this Court ruled” in June, the Biden administration said.
This story has been updated with additional details.