After previously claiming that the White House have no legal standing to extend the moratorium for eviction, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday a new moratorium on evictions. The announcement sparked questions and concerns about the legitimacy of the move.
The White House has no legal standing to extend the eviction moratorium
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki rejected concerns that Biden is indicating he does not uphold the rule of law; these concerns come after the extension of the moratorium on evictions.
Just after the White House was claiming that extending the eviction moratorium was unconstitutional, Jen Psaki now says that Biden "would not have supported moving forward with any action where he didn't feel there was legal standing and legal support." pic.twitter.com/cbgjA04NUr
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 4, 2021
When Psaki was asked about the concerns of Americans in relation to the move made by Biden of not respecting the Supreme Court ruling, Psaki answered accordingly.
Psaki stated she is not sure there are Americans who think that Biden does not uphold the rule of law. The press secretary also alleged that Biden is going to do everything within his means to ensure that Americans can stay in their homes as long as practicable.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that they were issuing a new moratorium on evictions. The announcement made is a stark contrast on what they previously claimed; days ago, the White House said they had no legal standing to extend the moratorium after a Supreme Court decision in June.
The announcement stirred concerns about the legality of the act made by the White House. Included among those who questioned the move is constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley.
According to Turley, in this move, the White House is seemingly placing the tactical in the same level as constitutional with this move. He added that Biden acknowledged the advice of legal experts, saying that this move is unconstitutional.
The constitutional scholar also mentioned that the majority of the justices in the Supreme Court have little to no doubt that this move is unconstitutional.
Constitutional Scholar: Biden vowed to uphold the Constitution, this oath cannot be disregarded
However, according to Turley, the president used the delay in court to block the order and get money. He added that the fact Biden would be handing out millions without the proper constitutional authority (and the absence of constitutional authority) did not seem to matter in his decision.
The constitutional scholar then emphasized that when Biden took an oath to be the president of the United States, he vowed to uphold the constitution. Period. The oath did not provide an option, saying that that Constitution can be disregarded when politically convenient.
Legal scholars have told President Biden extending the eviction moratorium is unconstitutional, so he’ll do a new one until it gets shot down in court https://t.co/yeyyfGdaMa via @twitchyteam
— J. N. Buck (@TerranEmpire) August 4, 2021
The constitutional scholar added that this line from his oath will be echoed to federal courts in order to ask for immediate injunction to stop Biden from pursuing this tactical move.
When Psaki answered questions about the legality of the new moratorium imposed by Biden, she mentioned that the move they made was not an extension; rather, it is a “different” moratorium gathered from a legal standpoint and a policy.
