Rep. Mondaire Jones’ Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Extended Eviction Moratorium

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s shadow docket decision to terminate the federal eviction moratorium:

“The Supreme Court’s shadow docket decision to strike down the CDC’s eviction moratorium is as dangerous as it is logically and morally bankrupt.

For the last year and a half, the eviction moratorium has kept as many as 11 million Americans struggling to pay rent safe and housed amid the worst public health and economic crises in a century. As the Delta variant continues to ravage our nation, striking down the moratorium will lead to unnecessary death and suffering—particularly in communities of color, which bear the brunt of the housing crisis.

We fought to extend the eviction moratorium to give states time to distribute the more than $46 billion in rental assistance that I helped pass as a member of Congress. The disbursement of these funds by states like New York, which is sitting on over $2 billion in rental assistance, is critical in order for landlords to be made whole. With its decision, the far-right Supreme Court has once again subverted the clear legal authority of the executive branch, instantly putting millions of lives in danger.

This decision is a painful reminder of the reality of a hyper-partisan Supreme Court that is more concerned with protecting special interests than protecting everyday Americans, and the need to restore balance to that Court by expanding it. We need not accept baseless, unsigned rulings issued in the dead of night.

I’ll continue fighting to ensure every person in my district and across the country remains safe and housed for the duration of this pandemic and long after. As I fight to eliminate the filibuster in the U.S. Senate, which is a roadblock to congressional action on a moratorium, the legislature in New York must pass an extension of our state’s own eviction moratorium.”

Mondaire Jones is the 34-year-old Congressman from New York’s 17th District, serving Westchester and Rockland Counties. He serves on the House Judiciary, Education and Labor, and Ethics Committees and is the first openly gay, Black member of Congress. A product of East Ramapo public schools, Mondaire was raised in Section 8 housing and on food stamps in the Village of Spring Valley by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to provide for their family. He later graduated from Stanford University, worked at the Department of Justice during the Obama Administration, and graduated from Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of the nonprofit Rising Leaders, Inc. and has previously served on the NAACP’s National Board of Directors and on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Most recently, Mondaire worked as a litigator in the Westchester County Law Department. In November, Mondaire was unanimously elected by his colleagues to be the Freshman Representative to Leadership, making him the youngest member of the Democratic House leadership team. In December, Jones was appointed a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and became a Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus. Mondaire was born and raised in Rockland, and resides in Westchester.