New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues there was blame to go around as the federal eviction moratorium expired over the weekend.

"The White House knew about this for over a month,” the prominent progressive said in an interview with Spectrum News. “This is not all Republicans’ fault when House Democrats hold the majority. I mean, that's just the truth of the matter."

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez participated in a weekend-long sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, joining other lawmakers and advocates in demanding an extension of the pause on evictions, which was imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nation is facing a potential wave of evictions, with millions of renters at risk being kicked out of their homes across the country. 

"It's just simply unacceptable, we cannot be abandoning the up to 11 million Americans that are in need,” Ocasio-Cortez said. "Particularly when the emergency rental assistance ... has not gotten out."

In recent days, leaders in Washington have pointed fingers at one another while attempting to figure out a path forward to protect renters with millions at risk of being pushed out of their homes.

Mass evictions could potentially worsen the recent spread of the COVID-19 delta variant as roughly 1.4 million households told the Census Bureau they could “very likely” be evicted from their rentals in the next two months. Another 2.2 million say they’re “somewhat likely” to be evicted.

In a statement released Monday, the White House emphasized that the federal government has provided $46.5 billion to keep renters in their homes, but it accused states and cities of being “too slow to act,” preventing that aid from making its way to tenants whose livelihoods have been upended by the pandemic.

“The president is clear: If some states and localities can get this out efficiently and effectively there’s no reason every state and locality can’t,” Gene Sperling, the administration's COVID relief bill rollout coordinator, said. “There is simply no excuse, no place to hide for any state or locality that is failing to accelerate their emergency” rental assistance.

The White House called on Congress to act, saying a recent Supreme Court ruling prevents them from extending the moratorium on their own. The nation's highest court ruled in a 5-4 decision in June that it would not back a further extension. Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted in the decision that a further expansion of the pause would require Congressional action.

"The president has not only kicked the tires, he has double, triple, quadruple checked,” Sperling said at a White House press briefing on Monday. “He has asked the CDC to look at whether you can even do targeted eviction moratorium[s] that just went to the counties.”

Over the weekend, House Democratic leaders fired back, urging the White House to act unilaterally, arguing it is unlikely the evenly divided Senate would be able to agree on an extension.

“Action is needed, and it must come from the Administration,” the House Democratic Leadership – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Whip James Clyburn and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark – said in a joint statement issued Sunday.

"As the CDC doubles down on mask-wearing and vaccination efforts, science and reason demand that they must also extend the moratorium in light of the delta variant," the leaders wrote. "Doing so is a moral imperative to keep people from being put out on the street which also contributes to the public health emergency."

The House failed to pass an extension before leaving Washington, D.C. last week. Republicans blocked an attempt to quickly pass an extension, though Democrats internally were not in agreement over how to proceed either.

Congress has approved more than $40 billion in rental assistance, but it has hit a snag at the state level, as the rollout has been criticized for moving slowly. The White House is urging governors to ramp up the distribution of those resources.

On Monday, President Joe Biden called on states to impose local moratoriums, allowing time for that federal aid to go out. He also urged landlords to hold off on evictions for 30 days, and asked utilities to not cut off services for people behind in payments.

"The president’s focus is for us to do everything within our power, or I should say everything within anyone's power, to help prevent unnecessary and avoidable, and painful, evictions," Sperling said.

Speaker Pelosi wrote in a statement issued Monday that she is "pleased" by the White House's actions: "For the good of families on the verge of eviction, my Democratic House colleagues and I are hopeful that this initiative to extend the moratorium will be successful as soon as possible."

Sperling said the administration will keep looking for additional legal avenues to keep people in their homes. Yet he also stressed the complexity of the problem by also noting that the Trump administration developed guidelines for providing aid to renters and landlords that were unworkable. Those guidelines which required extensive documentation were changed once Biden was in office.

“This is not an easy task,” Sperling said. “We as a country have never had a national infrastructure or national policy for preventing avoidable evictions.”

But like their tenants, many smaller landlords are also feeling the pinch, saying they cannot do without rental income for much longer.

"I depend on this money to survive to take care of my wife and kids,” said Anand Dhanraj, a New York landlord.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.