Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) won praise and credit from fellow Democrats in Congress on Tuesday after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced a new moratorium on evictions, with many pointing to her five-day sleep-in on the steps of the Capitol as a critical source of pressure on the administration.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called Bush “absolutely pivotal” during a visit to the protest, telling Forbes, “She’s one woman who stood up and said, ‘I’m not moving.’” 

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who participated in the protest, pointed to Bush’s past experience as a Black Lives Matter organizer, asking reporters at a press conference, “Can there be any doubt she’s saving lives just as she said she would?”

After asking Congress to extend the moratorium last week, just days before the start of the August recess, the administration backtracked on Tuesday, with the Centers for Disease Control imposing a 60-day moratorium for the vast majority of renters.

Bush, who spent most of the last five days sleeping on the House steps to protest the inaction, was quick to disclaim credit on Tuesday, citing help from colleagues like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and stating, “This is not the Cori show.”

But the progressive firebrand won praise from her party’s leaders, with Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer all singling out her role in the effort.

KEY BACKGROUND

What started as a one-woman protest on Friday quickly swelled, with the crowd on the steps growing to roughly a hundred people at points. Several other House Democrats joined Bush in sleeping on the steps, with over a dozen House and Senate Democrats, as well as pastors and civil rights leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson, visiting the site of the demonstration.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“I think the message here today is clear. It’s that everyday people can make a change. We can always demand better, and we can push ourselves to be better,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the press conference.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Bush said at the press conference progressives are “already gearing up” to fight to extend the moratorium when it expires in 60 days, with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) telling reporters on a press call that the goal of progressives is a “full, national” moratorium. “Let’s be clear, activists are in Congress. So expect for things to be different,” Bush said.

---

Original story can be found HERE.