James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:46 P.M. EDT
MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. PSAKI: Good afternoon. Okay, just a couple items for you all at the top.
Another update on the hurricane. The continuing focus on the ground is on power restoration, as nearly 1 million customers in Louisiana — more than 40 percent of the state — remain without power in the middle of a heat advisory.
While progress has been made in Mississippi since yesterday, 30,000 customers there still do not have electricity and power restoration. And parts of Louisi- — and parts of Louisiana could take weeks as crews assess the full extent of power system damage.
To help accelerate these efforts, the President spoke with CEOs of the largest energy companies in the Gulf Coast yesterday and committed the full weight of the federal government to providing resources wherever they are needed.
As part of that, the federal government is sharing aerial and satellite imagery to support damage assessments, helping with debris removal and traffic control so restoration workers and equipment can get access to downed wires and poles, and expediting permitting for rerunning of transmission cable across the Mississippi River and for standing up transmission towers.
Federal personnel from DOE, the Army Corps of Engineers, and across government are on the ground assisting efforts along with, as I've noted previously, 25,000 linemen.
Lack of power and damage to the health — healthcare facilities in Louisiana remains a significant problem. We are prioritizing the deployment of generators to locations most in need, and about 1,800 patients, as of today, have been evacuated from healthcare facilities with the help of additional ambulances that were pre-staged by FEMA.
Cell service also remains an issue, as it has been over the course of the last couple of days, and the FCC is working directly with wireless carriers and has deployed staff to Louisiana to prioritize recovery efforts.
We know this has been incredibly difficult — continues to be — for many people who had to evacuate because of the storm, and we continue to encourage individuals from impacted areas in Louisiana to apply for federal assistance. More than 31,000 households in Louisiana have already received a one-time $500 payment to support critical needs as a result of the major disaster declaration that the President approved.
I'd also note — this just went out, but in case you haven't seen it: On Friday, the President will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to survey storm damage from Hurricane Ida and meet with state and local leaders from impacted communities. We're just finalizing the details of this trip, so as more become available, we'll share them with all of you.
Also wanted to note that today the federal ag- — the White House and agencies across the federal government — including HUD, Treasury, and the Federal Housing Finance Authority — are announcing steps that will create, preserve, and sell approximately 100,000 additional affordable homes over the next three years with an emphasis on lower and middle ends of the market.
These steps leverage existing authorities and dedicate additional resources to affordable housing. Specifically, they will boost the supply of quality, affordable rental units by increasing the financing available through HUD, Treasury, and FHFA programs for affordable and targeted housing production, including a relaunch of the Federal Financing Bank's risk-sharing program, expanded support for low-income housing tax credit, and increasing access to the Capital Magnet Fund. Boost — and this will boost the supply of manufactured housing and two- to four-unit properties by expanding financing through Freddie Mac, which, along with existing policies, will enable more Americans to purchase homes.
Last item — sorry, there's a lot going on today: Today, the White House, Treasury, and Code for America — a civic technology nonprofit — announced the launch of a new mobile-friendly and bilingual Child Tax Credit — CTC signup tool that is mobile-friendly and available in Spanish to make it easi- — even easier for more Americans who do not regularly file taxes to claim their Child Tax Credit.
And as you know, this has been an ongoing effort of this White House and the administration to reach every single person we can who's eligible, even if they are non-filers.
We will link this new tool through ChildTaxCredit.gov. While the Code for America tool as an important and necessary resource to help more families this tax season, Treasury remains committed to creating a permanent, fully resourced, multilingual, and mobile-friendly government signup tool. That is a process that is underway.
That is all I have to highlight for you this morning — or this afternoon.
Go ahead. Kick us off.
Q Great. Thanks, Jen. Two subjects. First, on COVID: In Louisiana, state data suggests that about 10 percent of hospitalized patients are vaccinated. Is it still accurate to call COVID a "pandemic of the unvaccinated"? And could that phrase that's been deployed frequently by the White House possibly be counterproductive at this stage to protecting some Americans?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I would say, first, we continue to track data closely through the CDC and all of our healthcare — health and medical experts who do show that, across the country, the vast, vast majority of those who are hospitalized — vast majority — are individuals who have not been vaccinated. That has not changed.
And any health and medical expert — whether it's Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins, Dr. Walensky — will tell you that vaccination is very effective in protecting from hospitalization and death and serious illness.
That is our objective — is to save more lives. So, that hasn't changed our messaging.
Q Secondly: Obviously, in Texas, with the law with regard to abortion, the President said in a statement he will protect and defend Roe vs. Wade. How does the administration plan to do that?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I — we put out a statement from the President this morning, but let me just reiterate some of the key points. And I will, of course, answer your question.
As the President said this morning, the ex- — "This extreme Texas law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as precedent for nearly half a century." It will "significantly impair women's access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes."
It also "deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, healthcare workers, front desk staff at a health care clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual[s]." This further isolates individuals who are facing this tough choice.
And I would note for those of you who didn't see: People who report who — who — these private citizens could get up to $10,000 for reporting somebody who is seeking an abortion.
So, our focus and the President's focus is to reiterate our deep commitment to the constitutional right — of course, established by Roe v. Wade nearly five decades ago — and to continue to call for the codification of Roe, something that the President talked about on the campaign trail, the Vice President talked about on the campaign trail. And this highlights even further the need to move forward on that effort.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. One on COVID and Afghanistan — the second one on Afghanistan. Specifically, the boosters — President Biden has pledged to follow the science in the fight against COVID, though some experts have expressed some concern the decision to make boosters widely available this September is a bit premature and that it was made before health experts were able to fully weigh in.
So here's my question: What can — what can you tell people who are concerned that the desire to get ahead of the virus has actually put us out in front of the science instead?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first of all, we always lead with science. And let me just reiterate some things for anyone who's expressing a concern. This was a decision made by and announced by the nation's leading public health officials — everyone from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC; Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA Administrator — Commissioner; Dr. Francis Collins, NIC [sic] — NIH Director; and Dr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
They reviewed mountains and mountains of available data on vaccine effectiveness and made a clinical judgment that boosters would be needed, and announced a plan to begin them in September, subject, of course, to the FDA and CDC processes to continue.
We also know that there needs to be — there needs to be a plan in place to implement these booster shots around the country.
But I will tell you that this was a recommendation made by our nation's leading health experts based on mounds and mounds of data. There will still be a final piece of this process that will be seen through. But our responsibility and our objective is to save more lives, protect more people. And as soon as this data — the science made clear that boosters would help do that, we wanted to put that information out to the public.
Q The September 20 date to — is that firm? That date to roll out boosters, is that a firm date?
MS. PSAKI: Well, it's based on and pending the final — subject to the final FDA and CDC processes. Yes.
Q Okay. And then one on Afghanistan. There's some reporting that we'd like to confirm regarding a call in June — in July, rather — between President Biden and former Afghanistan President Ghani: one, that both leaders appeared completely unaware that the Taliban would take over; and, secondly, that they discussed plans to project that Afghan forces were still in control. Is that accurate? Can you tell us a little bit more about that call?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I'm not going to get into private diplomatic conversations or leaked transcripts of phone calls.
But what I can reiterate for you is that we have stated many times that no one anticipated — the vast majority, I should say — there may have been individuals and agencies, so I don't want to eliminate that option — but our national security team and no one in Congress or, I would say, most people out in the public anticipated that the Taliban would be able to take over the country as quickly as they did or that the Afghan National Security Forces would fold as quickly as they did.
So, even the content of the reporting is consistent with what we've said many times publicly.
I'll also note something that the President said in his press conference around the same time of this reported phone call: "The Afghan government and leadership has to come together. They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place. The question is: Will they generate the kind of cohesion to do it?"
And what the President conveyed publicly, and certainly privately as well, repeatedly, to Afghan leaders — as did our national security officials — is that it's important that the leaders in Afghanistan do exactly that: lead and show the country that they are ready to continue to — the fight against the Taliban; that they have the will for the Afghan National Security Forces to continue that fight even as our U.S. forces leave.
Q But did the President, at that point in time, have some sort of perception that even the former president of Afghanistan didn't have that confidence in the Afghan forces? Is that why maybe he was pushing Ghani to be more stern and to be more confident?
MS. PSAKI: The President has consistently conveyed — and I just noted an example — publicly that the Afghan leadership, at the time, needed to do exactly that: lead. They needed to come together in a cohesive manner. They needed to be united. They need to just show the country and the Afghan people they were going to fight and they are going to lead through this transition, even as U.S. forces left. That is entirely consistent with what he has said publicly throughout.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Jen. One on Afghanistan and one on COVID as well. We — a few colleagues of mine have determined that there's roughly 17,000 Afghan refugees at military installations in five states here, as of Tues- — as of Tuesday, while another 40,000 remain at bases overseas. Curious, how many of those Afghan evacuees have other countries committed to resettling or what is the status of those ongoing conversations. And will the U.S. resettle — or otherwise, will the U.S. resettle all of those 40,000 here in the United States?
MS. PSAKI: Well, not to refute the reporting of your colleagues, but just to note: The Secretary of Defense just confirmed it's about 20,000 who have come into the United States — at a briefing earlier this afternoon.
There is capacity — and we're working towards capacity at our military bases for up to 50,000. And again, this is not a place where people would live. This is a place where people would go, they would receive medical care and assistance and get connected with refugee resettlement organizations that are — play a vital role as refugees come to our country from wherever they come around the world.
We are also working with third countries on what their capacities are. I can't give you an exact breakdown now. It's a very important question. But that's exactly what our Department of Homeland Security, what our diplomatic team will be working through in the coming days. And I'm certain they will be providing updates as we have that established.
Q You've talked about this a little bit — others have as well — but there are, of course, concerns among lawmakers, experts who have tracked this who say previous arrivals of large numbers of refugees from different parts of the world, inevitably there may be a handful — a small handful who are eventually deemed a security risk of some kind. What reassurances can you make about the screening process and the attempts to make sure that somebody like that doesn't make his or her way here?
MS. PSAKI: I can absolutely assure you that no one is coming into the United States of America who has not been through a thorough screening and background check process. And there are many individuals, as you noted, who have not been through that process and they have gone to lily pad countries, as that process has been completed. It doesn't mean that that's because there is a flag. It means they have not completed their paperwork and we were working to save tens of thousands of people, hence we evacuated them to these third countries.
Q And then on COVID, is there any update on the U.S. decision to keep Europeans and Canadians from visiting the United States? There were a few public messages from ambassadors here in Washington — the EU Ambassador, the Polish Ambassador among others — saying, "The time has come for vaccinated Europeans to be allowed entry into the United States. Our people deserve to be reunited with loved ones and to have the opportunity to visit this great nation." I know this is something a lot of people worry about. I'm just curious if there's a status report.
MS. PSAKI: Well, we certainly understand that and relate to that and know that people are eager to be reunited with loved ones. And that is something that's impacting many people around the world.
I would note that we are right now working across federal agencies to develop a consistent and safe international travel policy — that has obviously been ongoing for some period of time — that includes travel from Europe and other countries around the world, and it is one that we want to be equitable. We want it to have standard requirements so there's clarity and so there's equity across how we approach it.
This will involve, of course, efforts to step up protecting the American people. It may also involve ensuring that over time, foreign nationals coming to the United States are fully vaccinated with limited exceptions. No decisions have been made yet, but that is a process that's ongoing. We certainly understand the interest in it being resolved and completed.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. It's been now a couple of days since U.S. troops left Afghanistan. I understand you have continued to say the mission will continue to bring people home through diplomatic and other ways. Yesterday, you guys at the White House didn't have an answer on whether any Americans or refugees had made it out. Is there an answer today?
MS. PSAKI: Well, again, this is an operation that's being overseen by our State Department from a diplomatic front. They have a briefing today. If there are updates to provide, they will provide them.
But what we are working through — and what we knew would not necessarily be operational the day after our departure — are a couple of steps. One is how we can get the airports operational again. We're working with the Qataris, the Turks, and others who are being partners in this effort. The civilian side of the airport had a lot of destruction to it, and we need to make repairs in partnership with them so we can get airports — and airplanes, I should say, up and running. That will have a huge impact once that is up and operational.
The other piece is overland efforts. Now, some of this is there are — there are steps, as we have seen over the course of the last few weeks, where individual American citizens are able to depart without conveying that they have departed yet. So what we are doing is we are tracking and staying in contact with all of the American citizens we are aware of on what our plans are, what the progress is, and what the — as we have updates on the timeline for when they can be able to depart.
Q Is there a sort of a timeframe where if there isn't an update from the State Department, there might be a course correction? I asked them today if they had any updated numbers and nobody has gotten back to me. I understand the briefing is coming up. But is there a timeframe where you guys will readjust?
MS. PSAKI: A course correction in what way?
Q In terms of: If we cannot say, for whatever reason, how many people have been able to leave since the U.S. forces withdrew, and we're not able to measure that or we're not able to publicly release that, is there a plan to do something else so that that movement can happen?
MS. PSAKI: Well, today is September 1st. We ended our presence in Afghanistan yesterday — or on the 31st in Afghanistan. What we said at the time, and it remains the case, is that we are focused on operationally moving forward on a number of fronts: There's the diplomatic front. We have more than half of the countries in the world who have agreed that the expectation we are going to press upon the Taliban is that people will be able to freely move — depart the country. There was a U.N. Security Council resolution signed — or passed, I should say, just two days ago.
And now we are operationally working on both airplanes, so that can depart — or getting the airport up and operational, and overland departures.
At the same time, we are in touch with every American citizen we have contact with about our efforts and our commitment to get them out of the country. I'm not sure what a course correction would look like. That is what our efforts are at this point in time, 36 hours after our last — or just about two days after our last planes depart.
Q And we're hearing about some journalists who were left behind. Fox confirmed that a number of journalists working for U.S. Agency for Global Media, a federally funded agency from Congress, including Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty journalists, were left behind.
And we're now also hearing from some senior State Department officials that there were constraints getting people through the gates at HKIA; that some of the communication methods to contact people were available to so many that they were instantly ubiquitous that those priority groups could not get through. Was that a contingency that was planned for?
MS. PSAKI: Well, Jacqui, I think it's important to remember, again, 120,000 people made it out of the airport and out of the country. And our commitment to people who want to evacuate, want to leave — American citizens, journalists, Afghan partners who have stood by our side — is enduring and remains.
Let me — I know there's been some reporting on this, so let me give you just a couple of examples — because now we can talk about this — of some of the ways that we worked to get American citizens out.
One, the most used method was the muster point — or what we called the "muster point." The State Department would blast notifications through a variety of channels to American citizens telling them to meet at a specific location from which we would either bus them into the airport in convoys or escort people on foot. We offered multiple opportunities for each of these muster points at various times, each with multiple transits to the airport. The majority of American citizens who got out were evacuated exactly this way.
We also talked people through — one on one — walking into the airport with State Department officials on the phone — on the other end of the phone the whole time, facilitating safe passage past checkpoints. This was incredibly labor intensive, but effective at resolving problems on the ground, one by one, in challenging environments.
In limited cases — and some of this was reported — where people were trapped or in immediate danger, U.S. security forces went beyond the wire, sometimes even a helicopter, to pick people up safely. We didn't talk about these much — these helo hops — at times — at the time, because they were dangerous missions. We didn't want to create the expectation that we'd be sending a helicopter for everyone who wanted to leave Afghanistan.
So, I note those because I think it's important to understand the steps and the roles that our U.S. military on the ground took, far beyond just checking people off on a list at the gate, to ensure we could get American citizens, our Afghan partners and others out. And we will continue those efforts through the means I just —
Q Can I ask one on Ghani? I just want to put a pin in that report. Was the President in any way pushing a false narrative in that call with the Afghan President?
MS. PSAKI: I think it's pretty clear — again, I'm not going to go into details of a private conversation. But what we saw over the course of the last few months is a collapse in leadership, and that was happening even before Ghani left the country.
What the President has conveyed repeatedly, privately and publicly, is you need to stand up and lead your country. And that's something he said at a press conference in July in public forum, as well.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. By my math, we're just shy of 48 hours since the last —
MS. PSAKI: Thank you for your math. It's all running together.
Q — military aircraft leaving Afghanistan. And we've talked — we've learned a lot more just in the last few hours about the nature of the cooperation we saw over the last two and a half weeks between the Taliban and the American forces on the ground.
I'm wondering if you could speak to whether, since — in the last 48 hours — there has been any continued form of interactions between the U.S. and the Taliban, obviously now much more in a diplomatic capacity.
MS. PSAKI: Well, again, this would be an effort that would be overseen underneath the leadership of the Secretary of State and the State Department. It will be necessary to have some form of communication and coordination with the Taliban to continue to evacuate people from the country. They oversee Afghanistan — the majority of large swaths of the country.
I will note that we had prior conversations or methods of engagement, even before the last couple of weeks. So, it's obviously a different form at this point in time; that will continue. That's part of what the President asked the Secretary of State and the State Department to pursue.
Q Ron Klain, obviously the Chief of Staff, last night said, "I don't know if we will ever recognize their government," as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
You've talked a lot about the pieces — or points of leverage that the U.S. holds over the Taliban. Is that one of the points of leverage — recognizing the Taliban? Is that something that's even under consideration?
MS. PSAKI: There's no rush to recognition from the United States or any country we've spoken with around the world. It will be very dependent on their behavior and whether they deliver on what the expectations are of the global community.
Q And then, quickly, on abortion: We've seen in a number of states — Republican-led states — an effort on voting rights, for instance, to pass similar legislation throughout the country on voting rights. What's the level of concern at the White House that the decision on Texas, specifically, will lead to a similar raft of laws across the country? And what is the recourse for the White House, at a federal level, to help prevent this?
MS. PSAKI: Well, the step that can be taken is for the — is the codification of Roe, something the President and the Vice President have called for and would require Congress to act on.
I will note that, certainly, we've seen — this is not the first threat to Roe we've seen in a state across the country. It's an extreme threat.
And again, I would just note: This is offering up to $10,000 to individuals who report someone who is going to get an abortion. I mean, that is what we're talking about here. So — and beyond that, as I've already outlined.
So, yes, of course, it's of great concern. And — but — and, of course, it's of great concern because this is not the first time that there have been efforts by some in the country to prevent a woman from having the right to choose.
Go ahead.
Q Quick follow-up on the discussion about leverage. Is there no concern here at the White House that China could actively try to undermine the U.S. leverage that it has with the Taliban, particularly providing the kind of access to the global marketplace you talked about yesterday?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, I would say that China doesn't have that capacity on their own, and that there is — there are more than 100 countries — a U.N. Security Council resolution — China did abstain from, but they didn't vote against — that calls on — presses the Taliban to allow for safe passage of people in the country and those who want to leave Afghanistan. So, you know, China is going to have to think about what role they want to be seen as in the world in this moment as well.
Q Let me ask you this: The President said yesterday, "We are not done with ISIS-K."
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
Q Senator Kaine, before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, was talking about working toward a new sort of superseding AUMF. Is this something the White House is interested in working with him on so that ISIS-K is specifically mentioned in a congressional authorization for the use of force?
MS. PSAKI: We've said in the past that we're interested in working with Senator Kaine on that, and that continues. I will note that, in this case, ISIS-K attacked and killed 13 members of our armed forces. We have every right — self-defense — to continue to go after ISIS-K, and the President has made clear that's what he wants the military to continue to do.
Q So, future strikes on ISIS-K will be in the vein of self-defense?
MS. PSAKI: Again, these are authorities that the military already has, but we also are open to and look forward to working with Senator Kaine and others in Congress who look forward to — who are looking to update the 20-year-old AUMF.
Go ahead.
Q Just two questions, Jen. There's a bill in Congress called the Women's Health Protection Act that would protect abortion access from state laws like the one in Texas. Does President Biden support that?
MS. PSAKI: I'd have to look more closely at the specifics of the law. Obviously protecting — codifying Roe, protecting a woman's right to choose is something the President is committed to, but I don't have the specifics of that law — or that bill, I should say.
Q And then, just secondly, has the President met with either Federal Chair Jerome Powell or Lael Brainard one-on-one in recent weeks?
MS. PSAKI: I have no meetings to report to you or read out for you.
