WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, blamed Democratic leadership for allowing the nation’s eviction moratorium to expire and said the White House wasn’t being “forthright” about its desire for Congress to act until it was too late.
The Democratic-controlled House adjourned Friday without extending the moratorium that was put in place to help renters amid the coronavirus pandemic. It expired Sunday, leaving progressive Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez outraged and demanding that the House return from its August recess.
Ocasio-Cortez said House Democratic leadership had an opportunity to hold a vote on extending the moratorium last week, but “there was frankly a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote.
“We have to really just call a spade a spade,” she said in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We cannot in good faith blame House Republicans when Democrats have the majority.”