Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive representing the state of Missouri, slept on the steps of the U.S. Capitol starting on Friday to bring attention to the faded moratorium on evictions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Bush has been open about her experience being unhoused in the past, including living in a car with her family after they had been evicted from their home. Bush told CNN that because they were technically not allowed to lay down on the Capitol steps, she slept mostly sitting up in a chair and bundled up in blankets.
As of Tuesday, the Biden administration finally issued a new moratorium on eviction that will last until Oct. 3. While many of her colleagues left Washington, D.C., for vacations or to enjoy the comforts of home, Bush explained that she simply couldn’t let the issue go. In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, Bush stressed that she knows what it’s like to be evicted and, “As long as I am a sitting U.S. congressperson, I will not keep my mouth shut about it.”
