AOC calls fellow Democrats "cowards" on the eviction moratorium

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling fellow Washington Democrats "cowards" for failing to extend a moratorium on evicting Americans during the pandemic, which after roughly 8 months of protection has put a reported 11 million Americans in jeopardy of losing shelter.

"The House and House leadership had the opportunity to vote to extend the moratorium and there was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote," Cortez said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "We have to call a spade a spade. We cannot in good faith blame the Republican Party when House Democrats have a majority."

The White House has said it didn't have the authority to extend the moratorium past August 31 and asked Congress to address the issue legislatively. 

The House vote failed Friday. The Democrat-controlled Senate has yet to vote on the matter, but likely also does not have the votes.

Ocasio-Cortez, is the official leader of House Democrats' so-called squad, the conference's most progressive wing.

Fellow squad members Reps. Cori Bush, of Missouri, Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, all slept just outside of the Capitol building this past weekend to protest the end of the ban.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with other key Democrat leaders have sent a letter to the White House asking it to make the order instead of Congress because they did not have the votes needed. 

“It is clear that the Senate is not able to [extend the ban], and any legislation in the House, therefore, will not be sufficient,” the letter reads. “Action is needed, and it must come from the administration."

The Senate is still in session, but the House is now out for the remainder of the summer. However, House members may be called back in to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.