The Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing a judge’s decision that a The order from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to temporarily halt evictions during the coronavirus pandemic is unconstitutional, according to a notice filed Saturday evening.
The Associated Press reports that prosecutors are appealing the decision of US District Judge J. Campbell Baker to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Baker ruled last week that the CDC had gone beyond its control by enacting the deportation moratorium.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the Constitution,” Barker wrote in its decision.
“The federal government cannot say that it has ever invoked its power over interstate trade to impose a moratorium on eviction,” said Barker, who was nominated by former President Trump
Donald Trump Mention Praises South Dakota Coronavirus Response, Blocks Lockdowns In CPAC Speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom – A Story From Two Controversial Governors McCarthy: ‘I’d Bet My House’ GOP Takes Lower Room Back in 2022 MORE, added. “That didn’t happen during the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. Nor did it invoke such power during the high demands of the Great Depression. The federal government at no point in our nation’s history has claimed such power until last year. “
The Trump administration enacted sweeping moratoriums in September last year that made it illegal to evict anyone earning less than $ 99,000 or a couple filing jointly expecting to earn less than $ 198,000. The Biden government extended the moratorium from February to June.
“The CDC’s eviction moratorium, which Congress extended last December, protects many tenants who cannot afford their monthly payments due to job losses or health care costs,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a statement. “By preventing people from becoming homeless or moving into busier homes, the moratorium will help slow the spread of COVID-19.”