On The Money: Biden asks Congress to extend eviction ban with days until expiration | Economic growth rose to 6.5 percent annual rate in second quarter

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THE BIG DEAL—Biden calls on Congress to extend eviction ban with days until expiration: The White House called on Congress to pass an emergency extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction ban on Thursday, three days before it expires, insisting the administration does not have the legal power to extend it after a recent Supreme Court ruling.

“Given the recent spread of the delta variant, including among those Americans both most likely to face evictions and lacking vaccinations, President Biden would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to further extend this eviction moratorium to protect renters at this moment of heightened vulnerability,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available,” she added.

The background: 

• The Supreme Court last month left intact the CDC’s moratorium on evictions by a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined with the court’s three liberals. 
• But Kavanaugh also said he agreed with a federal judge’s determination that the CDC had exceeded its authority in enacting the moratorium and argued that it could not be extended again unless by an act of Congress. 

For that reason, another extension could be reversed by the court if it is challenged by one of the moratorium’s many opponents.

“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the President calls on Congress to extend the eviction moratorium to protect such vulnerable renters and their families without delay,” Psaki said Thursday.

What comes next: 

• Both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are planning to bring a bill to the floor and make sure there’s enough support in their respective chambers, according to spokespeople for each leader.
• But both the House and Senate would have to pass the same bill and navigate a potential GOP filibuster in the Senate.

Republican lawmakers have also opposed Biden’s previous extensions of the CDC ban and have called on Congress to lay out a more sustainable process to keep renters housed and make landlords whole. 

“This is a full-scale failure by the Biden Administration that Republicans have been trying to address for months,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (N.C.), the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. “Now, we are three days away from the end of the CDC’s unconstitutional eviction moratorium, and what is President Biden’s solution? Blame the Court and call on Congress to fix it. This is absurd.”

I break it down here.

LEADING THE DAY

Economic growth rose to 6.5 percent annual rate in second quarter: U.S. economic growth stayed strong in the second quarter as rising vaccinations and a return to pre-pandemic activities unleashed a wave of pent-up demand, according to data released Thursday by the Commerce Department.

• Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.5 percent from April to June, the Commerce Department said, slightly higher than the 6.3 percent rate from the first quarter.
• The annualized growth rate indicates how much the U.S. economy would have grown if the second quarter’s pace had lasted for 12 months, and the new figures helped push total GDP past its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, effectively closing the gap in output from COVID-19.

The bigger picture: A number of economists had expected GDP to grow roughly 8 percent in the second quarter, according to a consensus of estimates, as an American public increasingly vaccinated against COVID-19 returned to restaurants, bars, hotels, entertainment venues, sports events, and vacations hindered by pandemic-related restrictions and health concerns. 

But, a sharp jump in inflation, supply shortages driven by the reopening rush, and the surge of the COVID-19 delta variant later in the quarter caused some analysts to trim down their estimates shortly before Thursday’s report, which came in well below expectations.

I explain here.

Democrats say they have the votes to advance $3.5T budget measure: Senate Democrats say they have the votes needed to pass a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which would green light a massive spending measure packed with President Biden’s top legislative priorities.

In addition to the $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal currently being debated by the Senate, Democrats are expected to try to pass a $3.5 trillion bill along party lines through a budget process that lets them bypass a GOP filibuster.

In order to do that, they first need to pass a budget resolution that will include the top-line figure and instructions for crafting the Democratic-only bill, which will require total unity from all 50 members of the Democratic caucus.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking from the floor, said Democrats were “on track” to pass both before leaving for a weeks-long August break. The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more here.

GOOD TO KNOW

• President Biden on Thursday called on state and local governments to use funds from his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to offer $100 payments to individuals in order to incentivize coronavirus vaccinations.
• The leading House Democrat on infrastructure policy is leery of the message coming out of the White House as it races to rally support behind a major bipartisan spending deal.
• The House on Thursday passed a sprawling appropriations package to fund the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Veterans Affairs and other agencies and set a marker in negotiations to avoid a government shutdown when current funding expires this fall. 
• Pending sales on existing homes fell by nearly 2 percent in June from May, indicating a possible drop in closed sales in the upcoming months.
• New claims for unemployment insurance fell last week by 24,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

ODDS AND ENDS

• New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) praised Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer’s decision announced on Thursday to require all staff and dine-in customers at his New York restaurants to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Twitter is testing a shopping feature that allows users to purchase items directly from a business’s account without leaving the platform, the social media company announced Wednesday.