Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/21a23_ap6c.pdf
Page Number: 3

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

3 

Per Curiam 

are  necessary  to  prevent  the  introduction,  transmis-
sion, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign
countries  into  the  States  or  possessions,  or  from  one
State or possession into any other State or possession.
For purposes of carrying out and enforcing such regu-
lations, the Surgeon General may provide for such in-
spection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, pest ex-
termination, destruction of animals or articles found to 
be so infected or contaminated as to be sources of dan-
gerous infection to human beings, and other measures,
as in his judgment may be necessary.” 

See also 42 CFR §70.2 (2020) (delegating this authority to
the  CDC).    Originally  passed  in  1944,  this  provision  has
rarely been invoked—and never before to justify an eviction 
moratorium.  Regulations under this authority have gener-
ally been limited to quarantining infected individuals and 
prohibiting the import or sale of animals known to transmit 
disease.  See, e.g., 40 Fed. Reg. 22543 (1975) (banning small 
turtles known to be carriers of salmonella). 

B 
Realtor associations and rental property managers in Al-
abama and Georgia sued to enjoin the CDC’s moratorium.
The  U. S.  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, holding that the 
CDC lacked statutory authority to impose the moratorium. 
Alabama Assn. of Realtors v. Department of Health and Hu-
man Servs., 2021 WL 1779282, *10 (May 5, 2021). 

But  the  court  stayed  its  order  pending  appeal.    It  rea-
soned that even though the Government had not shown a 
substantial likelihood of success, it did make a lesser show-
ing  of  a  “serious  legal  question  on  the  merits,”  which  the
court said warranted granting a stay when the remaining
stay factors weighed in the Government’s favor.  Alabama 
Assn.  of  Realtors  v.  Department  of  Health  and  Human 
Servs.,  2021  WL  1946376,  *4–*5  (May  14,  2021)  (citation