ACTIVISTS who spent five days camping out on the steps of the US Capitol building to demand that the government extend its ban on tenant evictions have welcomed a decision by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to extend it until early October.

Last Thursday, Congresswoman Cori Bush wrote to her Democratic colleagues calling on them to do everything possible to extend the federal eviction moratorium after the House of Representatives adjourned for the summer before voting on the proposal.

“I have been unhoused and evicted,” Ms Bush said in her letter.

“I’ve slept in my car and slept outdoors. I know what it’s like and I wouldn’t wish that trauma on anyone.

“I cannot in good conscience leave Washington tonight while a Democratic-controlled government allows millions of people to go unhoused as the Delta variant is ravaging our communities.”

Activists and the Democratic Party’s handful of progressive legislators joined Ms Bush on the steps over the weekend, calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action to keep renters in their homes.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration claimed that it could not legally extend the ban due to an earlier Supreme Court ruling.

But on Tuesday, Mr Biden said that he had asked the CDC to consider its options again and the ban was extended, preventing millions of people from losing their homes during the Covid-19 crisis — until October 3 at least.

“For five days, we’ve been out here, demanding that our government acts to save lives. Today, our movement moved mountains.”

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) said it was “proud to call the congresswoman a comrade and fellow DSA member.

“Despite her own traumatic experiences with being unhoused, Congresswoman Cori Bush slept outside on the steps of the Capitol building, using her position to move the Biden administration to do what they previously said they could not.

“There is no time for games; people’s lives are at stake. As an organisation that believes housing is a human right, we remain committed to our demands to cancel rent and will continue working to build our tenant unions and other local organising.”