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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday dismissed questions from reporters about President Biden’s lack of public appearances amid the ongoing government funding fight as a partial shutdown looms.
Jean-Pierre declined to answer why the president has not spoken to the American public about his position, instead blaming Republicans, President-elect Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R -La., and their “billionaire friends” like now Elon Musk by the chaos on Capitol Hill.
“Why hasn’t President Biden said anything publicly about this? Don’t the American people deserve to know why millions of federal workers could go into this vacation period without pay?” Jean-Pierre was asked during his daily press conference.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday. (Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images)
“All Americans need to know that the Republicans are standing in the way here and they are the ones who have created this mess. That is the reality. That is the fact,” he responded. “This is not the first time we’ve been here. And the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works. He’s been there a long time. He understands what strategy works here to get it done.”
Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden has held phone calls with Democratic leaders in Congress: Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. — but would not say whether the president has spoken to the House speaker regarding ongoing discussions.
“He’s been getting regular updates from his team. His team has been in contact with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle,” he said.
A simplified version of a Trump-backed bill to avert a partial government shutdown failed to pass the House of Representatives late Thursday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday dismissed questions from reporters about President Biden’s lack of public appearances amid the ongoing spending bill crisis as a government shutdown looms . (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The bill, which needed a two-thirds majority in the House to pass, failed by a vote of 174 to 235. The national debt has soared to more than $36 trillion, and the national deficit exceeds the 1.8 trillion dollars.
Jean-Pierre said the Republicans went back on their word and “blew up this deal.”
“Republicans need to stop playing politics with a government shutdown. And they’re doing the bidding. They’re doing the bidding of their billionaire friends. That’s what we’re seeing at the expense of hardworking Americans,” he said.
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“There is a bipartisan deal that Republicans suppressed because of what Elon Musk and President-elect Trump ordered them to do. That’s what happened. That’s the reality we’re in now.”
Musk, an outspoken critic of government waste, has weighed in on the spending bill debate and led a conservative revolt against the first 1,547-page bill because of its bloated spending provisions, calling for lawmakers to who supported the bill lose their seats.
He supported the newer, slimmer version, which was ultimately rejected by House members.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the talks was criticized by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Journalists tried different ways to try to get Jean-Pierre to comment on the president’s role in the matter, but she remained evasive.
“The president is the president of the United States, and he’s leading,” he told a reporter, to which he replied, “To be clear, the strategy is he’s leading by staying in the background?”
“The strategy is that Congress, the Republicans in particular, need to do their job and get out of their way and focus on the American people, not their billionaire friends. That’s what needs to happen .And that’s what the president wants to see,” she replied.
Jean-Pierre also warned that a shutdown could disrupt the presidential transition process for incoming administration.
“If there is a shutdown, and I don’t want to get too hypothetical, but this is the reality, transition activities will be restricted with limited exceptions, obviously, such as preventing imminent threats to the safety of human life or the protection of property,” he said.
President-elect Trump, right, and Elon Musk were in favor of Thursday’s failed bill. (Brandon Bell)
Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday that Republicans have a “good plan” to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma, added: “I think you come to an agreement, then you get together and sit down and figure out, you know, if we can cross the finish line. And that’s probably what” now you’re about to.”
