President Donald Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, speaks at a March 16 White House press conference. Photo by D. Myles Cullen | White House Photo
Despite promises to the contrary, executive orders President Donald Trump signed Saturday do not prevent evictions.
Trump had promised last week to halt all evictions across the country as millions of renters across the country, out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic and suddenly facing the loss of expanded unemployment benefits, face the prospect of losing their housing.
Trump acted Saturday after negotiations for a second pandemic relief bill reached an impasse. Democrats initially sought a $3.4 trillion package, but said they lowered their demand to $2 trillion. Republicans had proposed a $1 trillion plan.
The are questions about how effective Trump’s measures will be. An order for supplemental unemployment insurance payments relies on state contributions that may not materialize. A payroll tax deferral may not translate into more spending money for workers depending on how employers implement it.
But the president is trying to stem a slide in the polls with a show of action three months before he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the November election.
Saturday’s order related to evictions did not extend a federal eviction moratorium that protected more than 12 million renters living in federally subsidized apartments or units with federally backed mortgages. That moratorium expired July 25.
Instead, Trump directed the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments to identify funds to provide aid to those struggling to pay their monthly rent. He also directed HUD to take action to “promote the ability of renters and homeowners to avoid eviction or foreclosure.”
In an appearance on CNN on Sunday, presidential economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the order gives the housing authority wide power to stop evictions, for instance by citing the risk of COVID-19 spread in a community. But he acknowledged that it does not explicitly ban evictions.
It’s unclear how much immediate relief the order will provide tens of millions of people at risk of being evicted over the next months. Around 30 state moratoriums have expired since May. The Aspen Institute has estimated that 23 million renters are at risk of eviction by Sept. 30.
Housing experts have called for a national moratorium on evictions combined with financial assistance for those struggling to pay rent. Massachusetts’ own eviction moratorium, which also covers foreclosures and smaller commercial tenants, expires at the end of September.
