Judge strikes down CDC's authority to uphold federal eviction freeze
ABC News
A D.C. district judge ruled Wednesday that the CDC does not have the authority to uphold a federal eviction moratorium. The DOJ is appealing the ruling.
A D.C. district judge ruled Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the authority to uphold a federal eviction moratorium, which was put in place to prevent those behind on rent because of the pandemic from being evicted from their homes. Judge Dabney Friedrich of the D.C. District Court ordered the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services to vacate the eviction moratorium, which has been in place since last year. Though Friedrich, a Trump-appointed judge, acknowledged the "serious health crisis" presented by the pandemic, she ruled that the eviction moratorium went beyond the CDC and HHS's legal authority to control activities that could increase the spread of disease or infection. "It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic," Friedrich wrote. "The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not."More Related News