House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) faced intense backlash over the weekend after failing to extend a pandemic-related eviction moratorium, which has now resulted in millions of Americans facing eviction.
“A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year expired Saturday after President Joe Biden’s administration extended the original date by a month,” USA Today reported. “The Supreme Court voted to not end the eviction program and let it expire on July 31. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion in June that ‘those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution’ of the funds that Congress appropriated to provide rental assistance to those in need due to the pandemic.”
Congress, which is completely controlled by the Democrats, failed to pass new legislation to extend the moratorium. Even far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) admitted during a CNN interview on Sunday that Democrats could not in good faith blame the Republican Party for failing to extend the eviction moratorium.
“And we have to really just call a spade a spade,” she said. “We cannot in good faith blame the Republican Party when House Democrats have a majority.”
Pelosi spent the weekend shifting who she was trying to blame for the debacle. Pelosi started by blaming the Republican Party and ended by blaming Biden’s CDC.
“Ensuring every American has a roof overhead is a value that unites the Democratic Party. That’s why I led a relentless campaign to extend the CDC eviction moratorium,” Pelosi claimed on Saturday. “In an act of pure cruelty, Republicans blocked this measure — leaving children and families out on the streets.”
“The CDC has the power to extend the eviction moratorium,” she falsely claimed on Sunday. “As they double down on masks, why wouldn’t they extend the moratorium in light of [the] delta variant?”
Pelosi faced backlash from across the political spectrum over the disaster, which comes after she had spent valuable congressional time continuing to rehash the January 6 riot.
Some of the responses that Pelosi’s remarks generated included:
Leftist Aaron Huertas: “A handful of conservative Democrats were *not* united on this and progressive members are happy to discuss that publicly, so this argument will definitely not work. Yeesh.”
https://twitter.com/aaronhuertas/status/1421846040806842375
Leftist Peter Daou: “PELOSI, TRANSLATED: We control the White House, Senate, and House, and we’re powerless. Now let the evictions proceed as I get back to my insider trading…”
PELOSI, TRANSLATED:
We control the White House, Senate, and House, and we're powerless. Now let the evictions proceed as I get back to my insider trading… https://t.co/o5zydOzxkN
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) August 1, 2021
People for Bernie: “If only there was a way to have a vote on the floor of the house that Republicans can’t block 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 wonder who has the power to do that!!!!”
If only there was a way to have a vote on the floor of the house that Republicans can't block 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 wonder who has the power to do that!!!!#ExtendTheMoratorium https://t.co/VTirlHZujn
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) August 1, 2021
Political candidate Samuel Williams: “Did you say that it was Republicans fault just yesterday. Make up you mind or is your memory as bad as Joe’s?”
https://twitter.com/votesamuelwill1/status/1421942552656220163
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): “Speaking of doubling down…this isn’t even spin…it is a lie. The Supreme Court ruled (in June) that the CDC exceeded its authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium and that congressional authorization was necessary.”
Speaking of doubling down…this isn’t even spin…it is a lie. The Supreme Court ruled (in June) that the CDC exceeded its authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium and that congressional authorization was necessary. https://t.co/cFG0Se1ypl
— Congressman Kelly Armstrong (@RepArmstrongND) August 1, 2021
Other notable responses included:
You'd think Blackrock could draft a better tweet for Pelosi to send out https://t.co/nUBj7wIhOL
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 1, 2021
Wherein the Speaker of the House, second in line of succession, proves she hasn't a clue that the Supreme Court already definitely ruled on this. https://t.co/fyvImp6VmR
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) August 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/JayCaruso/status/1421939065927122949
More than tired of politicians posturing as powerless spectators instead of even attempting to take action, especially when they're the third most powerful politician in the country. https://t.co/5WC6wfl6Mq pic.twitter.com/iJZkm1EnCb
— Morgan Artyukhina, Jew for a Free Palestine✡️🇵🇸 (@LavenderNRed) August 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/GPollowitz/status/1421946435390615554
Speaker of the House urging an executive branch agency to openly defy the Supreme Court. Remarkable. https://t.co/6Os8SxEDBV
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) August 1, 2021