Two days after blowing past the deadline, little effort appeared underway in Washington to reinstate a moratorium that had spared perhaps millions of renters from eviction. Congress continued to call on the Biden administration to act, while the White House on Monday insisted that it lacked the legal authority to do so on its own.

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       The federal ban on evictions expired Saturday, nearly 11 months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the moratorium in place to keep people from losing their homes amid the pandemic. Many constituents still struggling in the pandemic are pressing lawmakers for a way out, unsure about how they will make the rent or back payments. Washington, however, has no solution at hand.

       The stalemate was on display Monday afternoon, as Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip, highlighted data that showed that less than 10 percent of the aid authorized by Congress for renters had reached families at risk of losing their homes. That included Clyburn’s own state, he told reporters, where “almost none” of the $500 million it received had been disbursed.

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       “The economic crisis caused by the pandemic has caused great hardship,” Clyburn said at a news conference. He called on the Biden administration to act, even as he acknowledged the legal challenges it faces, given a recent, adverse Supreme Court ruling.

       House lawmakers adjourned for their summer recess last week without resolving the looming renter crisis, as Democrats admitted they lacked enough votes to extend renter protections into either the summer or the end of September. In the Senate, meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans on Monday remained focused on advancing a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure proposal — and lawmakers acknowledged they had no immediate solution at hand for the emerging crisis.

       “We’re talking about thousands being evicted. It will be devastating to them personally and to the economy,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate majority whip. He later admitted, “It is a true challenge for us.”

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       The White House released a statement Monday appearing to pass the responsibility to state and local governments. According to Moody’s data, more than 6 million renters are behind on their payments, and it is unclear of how many could face eviction notices in the coming days.

       An eviction moratorium expired Aug. 1 after Congress failed to vote on legislation extending the ban that shielded renters from being forced out of homes. (Reuters)

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       White House press secretary Jen Psaki praised Biden and Congress for the more than $46 billion that state and local governments received in emergency rental assistance.

       “As the Administration made clear last week, there is no excuse for any State or locality not to promptly deploy the resources that Congress appropriated to meet the critical need of so many Americans,” she said in a statement. “This assistance provides the funding to pay landlords current and back rent so tenants can remain in their homes or apartments, not be evicted.”