Originally conceived as an emergency health measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the eviction moratorium was not a major public priority until last Thursday, when the White House said Biden would be forced to allow it to expire rather than challenging the Supreme Court's ruling.

That left almost no time for Democratic lawmakers to pass legislation to extend the eviction ban and caused many to accuse the White House of blindsiding them with the responsibility.

"We thought the White House was in charge," Rep.

She called it a "moral imperative."

At the White House, officials spent the weekend debating the scope of Biden's ability to extend the moratorium, despite an earlier determination by the White House counsel's office that doing so could risk a more harmful ruling down the line limiting the administration's ability to enact other emergency public health rules.

Some on Biden's team pressed internally for a reexamination of the legal determination over the past week, but White House lawyers said there was no gray area in the decision.

"We spent a lot of time looking at it.

Sperling also downplayed the likelihood that the President could convince administration lawyers to change their determination on his legal options.

"He has double, triple, quadruple checked," said Sperling, underscoring that while Biden continues to explore his own authorities, state governments should work harder to distribute billions in unused housing relief dollars.

So far only a small percentage of the $47 billion program has been disbursed, a shortfall the White House has pinned on states it says have been too slow to act.

"If some states and localities can get this out efficiently and effectively, there's no reason every state and locality can't," Sperling said.