Judge John Barker, a Trump nominee in the Eastern District of Texas, does not stop issuing a preliminary injunction, but says he expects the CDC to respect its ruling and withdraw the moratorium.
But on Saturday night, the Department of Justice filed an appeal in the case.
“The Department of Justice respectfully agrees with the decision of the District Court in Terkel v. CDC on 25 February that the CDC’s eviction moratorium exceed the powers of Congress under the trade clause and the necessary and proper clause, and the department opposed the decision appealed, “Brian M. Boynton, acting assistant attorney general for the department’s civil division, said in a statement.
“However, the decision does not extend beyond the specific plaintiffs in that case, and it does not prohibit the application of the CDC’s eviction moratorium to other parties. For other landlords renting to covered persons, the CDC’s eviction moratorium remains in force.”
The ruling sparked a legal effort that began when a group of Texas landlords and property owners sued the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services in October over the Eviction Moratorium Order issued by the Trump administration in September. and temporarily stopped. evictions during the pandemic.
The CDC order would expire at the end of December, but it was extended until January by a provision in the second stimulus package. One of President Joe Biden’s first actions was to extend the moratorium again until the end of March.
The order is called in when a tenant gives their landlord a signed statement claiming that they meet specific requirements – including that they earn less than $ 100,000 per year, have experienced a significant loss of income and have done their best to find rental assistants to pay. their rent.
Under the order, rents are not canceled or forgiven, and landlords can evict tenants after the moratorium ends if they are unable to pay the refunded rent.
This is a striking story and will be updated.