The Biden Administration Issues A New Eviction Moratorium After A Federal Ban Lapsed

Days after a national eviction moratorium expired, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued a new, more limited freeze that remains in effect through Oct. 3.

Like the previous order, the two-month moratorium issued Tuesday comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new ban on evictions covers parts of the United States that are experiencing what the CDC calls "substantial" and "high" spread of the coronavirus.

As of Tuesday afternoon, that's the vast majority of U.S. counties.

The order, which cites the rise of the delta variant, says: "Without this Order, evictions in these [higher transmission] areas would likely exacerbate the increase in cases."

"Where we are right now with such high disease rates, we felt a new, tailored order [was needed] to make sure that ... working Americans who were at risk of eviction could be stably housed during this really tenuous, challenging period of time," the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told NPR's All Things Considered.

The federal ban expired Saturday night, affecting millions of Americans who had the potential to be removed from their homes if they had fallen behind on rent.

Since that moratorium's expiration, progressives had pressured the Biden administration to extend the pause on evictions.

The administration previously said it didn't have the legal authority to issue a such a measure. The new order could face legal challenges.