"After White House legal advisers found he could not extend a national eviction moratorium, President Biden told Chief of Staff Ron Klain to seek the advice of Harvard law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe..."

"Tribe suggested to Klain and White House Counsel Dana Remus that the administration could impose a new and different moratorium, rather than try to extend the existing ban in potential defiance of a warning from Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, the person said.... Biden, who served as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has known Tribe since the 1980s and frequently seeks his legal advice.... On Monday, Sperling told reporters there was no possible legal avenue for either extending the existing moratorium or enacting a new, more targeted eviction ban.... The next day, the administration reversed itself and said it had found a legal basis for the move — even as Biden publicly expressed doubt about the legality of his administration’s actions. 'The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,' Biden told reporters, citing conversations with legal experts. 'There are several key scholars who think that it may, and it’s worth the effort.' A White House spokeswoman did not provide the names of other scholars the administration depended on to justify the ban."

From "Biden told White House chief to seek Harvard legal scholar’s guidance, leading to reversal on evictions/Ron Klain consulted with Laurence Tribe about the legality of a new eviction moratorium, helping to bring about a dramatic White House pivot" (WaPo).