Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised a group of House Democrats and activists camping out on the east front steps of the Capitol in an effort to pressure the federal government to extend an eviction moratorium.
Pelosi said in a statement on Tuesday that House Democrats “have galvanized a national movement around the eviction emergency.”
The California Democrat has been urging the Biden administration to find a way to extend the moratorium that expired on July 31.
A group of liberal House Democrats has criticized Pelosi and Democratic leaders for adjourning without passing a bill to extend the moratorium after President Joe Biden made a last-minute request that Congress take action.
PELOSI ‘HOPEFUL’ BIDEN WILL EXTEND EVICTION MORATORIUM
Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, has led the Capitol steps campout, which began on Friday.
Bush, who has faced eviction, wants the House to reconvene and take up legislation to extend the moratorium. Bush, in tears, made the demand again on Tuesday.
Pelosi’s statement first praised House Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who helped pass the initial moratorium as well as the $46.5 billion in federal aid for renters and landlords.
Pelosi then praised Bush and her fellow campers.
“I also salute Congresswoman Cori Bush for her powerful action to keep people in their homes,” Pelosi said. “All Democrats know that inaction is not an option.”
Biden administration officials said they are reviewing options for extending the moratorium without action from Congress after determining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not have the authority to extend it following a Supreme Court ruling last month.
Democrats could not come up with a majority to pass an extension, in part because lawmakers want states to begin spending the $46.5 billion in aid.
Lawmakers are facing pressure from landlords and real estate groups urging an end to the moratorium.
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Pelosi said Monday that lawmakers are on “24-hour notice” to return to the Capitol to vote on legislation and added Tuesday that Democrats “stand ready to work with the Administration as they search for ways to extend the moratorium and as they urge states and localities to spend the $46.5 billion that Congress allocated.”
