Republicans, who hold the majority in the Senate, were due to release details of their latest stimulus package this week, and not a moment too soon as federal assistance is due to expire this month. Also expiring is an eviction moratorium. Without immediate assistance, millions of Americans will soon be forced out of their homes.

But as of Friday afternoon, no deal among Republican on money or possibly extending the moratorium. The Washington Post writes:

“The ongoing talks are one key reason for the surprising delay in the introduction of the GOP’s $1 trillion stimulus package. Administration officials and GOP lawmakers have said they want to cut but not outright eliminate enhanced federal unemployment benefits, but the final shape of the plan remains in flux.”

The situation is dire all over the country. In Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports:

“Unemployed and underemployed Dallas-Fort Worth residents aren’t just coping with a public health and economic crisis but also could soon face a “tidal wave” of evictions with little recourse, according to legal experts across Texas who are sounding an alarm.

“We’re about to fall off a cliff here,” said Mark Melton, a lawyer at Holland & Knight in Dallas.

“Roughly 40% of North Texans pay monthly rent to a landlord or property management company in order to keep a roof over their heads — a routine process that’s grown increasingly difficult for people caught up in the pandemic’s economic fallout.”

In Florida, the pandemic may force a wave of evictions, reports NBC News.

Politico reports from California:

“Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his regular #NewsomAtNoon briefing Wednesday, cited “growing recognition in Washington, D.C. that we are walking towards the edge of a cliff.’’ 

“Indeed, Senate Democrats are already warning of the “potential catastrophe” that looms nationally as 12 million Americans have signaled they were unable to pay the rent last month. Dr. Tim Thomas, who heads the Urban Displacement Project at the University of California, Berkeley, yesterday warned of possibly devastating effects on vulnerable communities if rent protections do not continue, ABC News reported.“

Meanwhile, CNBC reports:

“As the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, almost one-third of U.S. households, 32%, have not made their full housing payments for July yet, according to a survey by Apartment List, an online rental platform.

“About 19% of Americans made no housing payment at all during the first week of the month, and 13% paid only a portion of their rent or mortgage.”

Senate Democrats have called for the extension of eviction protection.