I don't have any useful thoughts on the eviction moratorium, but this approach of enacting unconstitutional Executive Orders to take advantage of the Supreme Court's operational latency is a very troubling one. It's heading down the path of Andrew Jackson's "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." which led to the Cherokee's "Trail of Tears"[1].
If John Roberts wants to preserve the Court's power, he should find a way to convene the Justices and strike the moratorium down, and send Biden a note to get a law passed.
To see the House Speaker basically say "pretty please" to a Presidential Administration for the CDC to reimpose eviction moratoriums is troubling to say the least. Whether it is legislative laziness or incompetence, Congress has chosen to relegate itself to the sidelines instead of reasserting its authority. The Sep 2020 extension was also legally dubious, as it relies on an overly generous(and I mean extremely generous) reading of the Public Health Act(I would also like to see many of the New Deal era laws repealed and replaced with new laws that are more applicable to the 21st century, and better worded to stamp out any potential abuse of power by the executive branch) to justify such an extension absent further authorization from Congress. Everything I've read thus far about that act and existing laws, I've come to conclude that extension that took place during the Trump administration, should not have happened as it did. President Trump should've gone to Congress for that extension rather than have the CDC extend it minus a legislative extension. The first eviction moratorium was covered under the CARES act, passed by Congress in March 2020.
Republicans like to empower the executive branch when they hold power, as do Democrats. They complain about executive excesses when the White House is held by the opposing party or when they are out of power. But when they get their political trifecta, they embrace excessive executive power(Trump and the diversion of funds for the wall, and Obama with DACA). Biden so far has been better on that score than his two predecessors until now. His executive order may've been well intended, but is very disappointing given that he has a chance to show that he would better than Obama and Trump regarding judicious use of power.
If there is anything useful Congress can do on a bipartisan basis, it is to assert its authority(as David mentioned in previous columns, there is a reason why the powers of Congress are listed under Article 1 of the Constitution) and claw back many of the powers they've delegated to the executive branch over the past many decades. While courts should be aggressive in stopping illegal actions by the executive branch, Congress should also not hesitate to pass laws(via veto proof margins) and use the power of the purse to stop executive overreach.
I don't have any useful thoughts on the eviction moratorium, but this approach of enacting unconstitutional Executive Orders to take advantage of the Supreme Court's operational latency is a very troubling one. It's heading down the path of Andrew Jackson's "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." which led to the Cherokee's "Trail of Tears"[1].
If John Roberts wants to preserve the Court's power, he should find a way to convene the Justices and strike the moratorium down, and send Biden a note to get a law passed.
[1] https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_cherokee.html
To see the House Speaker basically say "pretty please" to a Presidential Administration for the CDC to reimpose eviction moratoriums is troubling to say the least. Whether it is legislative laziness or incompetence, Congress has chosen to relegate itself to the sidelines instead of reasserting its authority. The Sep 2020 extension was also legally dubious, as it relies on an overly generous(and I mean extremely generous) reading of the Public Health Act(I would also like to see many of the New Deal era laws repealed and replaced with new laws that are more applicable to the 21st century, and better worded to stamp out any potential abuse of power by the executive branch) to justify such an extension absent further authorization from Congress. Everything I've read thus far about that act and existing laws, I've come to conclude that extension that took place during the Trump administration, should not have happened as it did. President Trump should've gone to Congress for that extension rather than have the CDC extend it minus a legislative extension. The first eviction moratorium was covered under the CARES act, passed by Congress in March 2020.
Republicans like to empower the executive branch when they hold power, as do Democrats. They complain about executive excesses when the White House is held by the opposing party or when they are out of power. But when they get their political trifecta, they embrace excessive executive power(Trump and the diversion of funds for the wall, and Obama with DACA). Biden so far has been better on that score than his two predecessors until now. His executive order may've been well intended, but is very disappointing given that he has a chance to show that he would better than Obama and Trump regarding judicious use of power.
If there is anything useful Congress can do on a bipartisan basis, it is to assert its authority(as David mentioned in previous columns, there is a reason why the powers of Congress are listed under Article 1 of the Constitution) and claw back many of the powers they've delegated to the executive branch over the past many decades. While courts should be aggressive in stopping illegal actions by the executive branch, Congress should also not hesitate to pass laws(via veto proof margins) and use the power of the purse to stop executive overreach.