A U.S. senator this week launched a long-shot effort to repeal the eviction moratorium put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a gambit which comes amid the moratorium’s uncertain constitutional standing.
Penn. Sen. Pat Toomey introduced the resolution in the Senate on Wednesday; if passed, it would order that the moratorium “shall have no force or effect” under U.S. law.
Pursuant to the resolution, Toomey asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether or not the CDC’s order formally counts as a “rule” under GAO regulations.
“Though the CDC did not pursue notice and comment rulemaking, the eviction moratorium appears to be generally applicable, prospective in nature, and designed to interpret law,” Toomey wrote.
It is unclear if the CDC does actually possess the authority to issue the moratorium. An earlier eviction ban was allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the high court directed that any future bans would have to come from Congress, not the executive branch.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has conceded that the rule rests on uncertain legal grounds.