Kavanaugh Sides with Leftists Against Private Business Owners, Upholds CDC's Moratorium on Evictions

Kavanaugh Sides with Leftists Against Private Business Owners, Upholds CDC’s Moratorium on Evictions

The Supreme Court held that the CDC can continue to impose a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures due to the Covid lockdowns causing millions to not pay rent or mortgages yesterday. It was made possible by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the so-called “conservative” Justice who sided with the four progressives.

According to POLITICO [emphasis added]:

The association had asked the court to act on an emergency basis to vacate a stay on a lower-court decision overturning the ban, saying the “stay will prolong the severe financial burdens borne by landlords under the moratorium for the past nine months.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s moratorium is currently set to expire July 31 after the Biden administration extended it last week, with the CDC saying it intended the move as the final extension. Some six million renter households are behind on rent, according to a recent Census survey.

Kavanaugh wrote in Tuesday’s decision that he agreed with the lower-court ruling that the CDC had exceeded its authority but that its pending expiration swayed his thinking.

This, folks, is a judicial copout. Kavanaugh’s claim is that since the moratorium ends in a month and the ever-so-trustworthy Biden regime claims they won’t extend it (they’ve said that before) that he is willing to sidestep the Constitution for the sake of it being no big deal. Tell that to the landlords who are struggling to pay their bills as a result of government’s unconstitutional restrictions.

The role of Supreme Court Justices is to interpret the law and uphold the Constitution. It’s not to make “pragmatic” decisions based on politics, which is exactly what Kavanaugh did. The Constitution does not grant the executive branch in DC the power to force private businesses to offer a service and use of their property with no recourse for non-payment and no realistic expectation of future compensation.

Headline USA reported:

No federal law grants the CDC any license or authority to impose such a mandate. U.S. Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington had struck down the moratorium as exceeding the CDC’s authority, but put her ruling on hold. The high court voted 5-4 to keep the ban in place until the end of July.

In a brief opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he agreed with Friedrich’s ruling, but voted to leave the ban on evictions in place because it’s due to end in a month and “because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds.”

As a practical matter, the moratorium was always a band-aid measure. The long it’s kept in place, the more it will fester, sending people further behind on their payments and forcing rental property owners to suffer. It’s a band-aid that should have been ripped off shortly after it was put in place. Instead, it’s been lingering like an economic timebomb that will go off as soon as the Biden regime stops kicking the can down the road.

Landlords are being told they must allow their property to be used, free of charge. They are told they must continue to service these properties, again free of charge. Brett Kavanaugh is proving once again he does not support the Constitution.