James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
3:02 P.M. EDT
MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone. Thank you for your patience. I know you're all thrilled to be sitting here at 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, but here we are together.
Okay, so I have two items for all of you at the top. Today, the White House Competition Council, which includes eight Cabinet Secretaries and the Chairs of seven independent agencies, held its inaugural meeting here in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
The Council's first meeting focused on the actions agencies have already taken to promote competition and help lower costs for American families in just the two months since the President issued the competition executive order. The members of the Competition Council have met every deadline in the executive order so far and delivered even more than what was required ahead of schedule.
The agencies' actions cover a broad range of industries and are aimed at reducing the prices people pay when they shop at the grocery store, when they travel to visit their loved ones, when they're choosing an Internet plan, and when they purchase the prescription drugs they need.
During the meeting, several agencies, including HHS, DOT, USDA, DOJ, and FTC — and the FTC, briefed the other councilmembers on the important work they've done.
This includes a major effort by the Department of Transportation to get refunds for thousands of travelers whose flights were cancelled due to COVID-19. DOT published a new report highlighting how it is helping secure refunds for thousands of those passengers, including by investigating the refund practices of 18 airlines, filing a formal complaint against Air Canada for refund delays, and getting 9 airlines to change their refund policies so that passengers can get refunded more quickly.
This is just the beginning; obviously more work ahead.
A quick preview of the week ahead:
You know a lot of this already, but tomorrow, the President and First Lady will honor and memorialize the lives lost with travel to all three sites of the 9/11 attacks, visiting New York City; Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and the Pentagon.
On Monday, the President will travel to Boise, Idaho, where he will visit the National Interagency Fire Center. He will also head to Sacramento, California, to survey wildfire damage that has affected the region. Then the President will head to Long Beach, California, to participate in an event with Governor Gavin Newsom.
On Tuesday, he will travel to Denver, Colorado, to participate in a Build Back Better infrastructure event. We'll have more details, I expect, over the coming days. More to come in the schedule for the week ahead.
With that, Alex, go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. I was hoping you could comment on some new reporting from my colleague that health concerns have halted U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees from two key countries. What was behind that? Is it COVID related? Do you know how many Afghan refugees are affected?
MS. PSAKI: Sure. Let me give you the information we have at this point. Operation All- — or I have, I should say, at this point. Operation Allies Welcome flights into the United States have been temporarily paused at the request of the CDC and out of an abundance of caution because of four diagnosed cases of measles among Afghans who recently arrived in the United States.
These individuals are being quarantined in accordance with public health guidelines, and the CDC has begun full contact tracing. All arriving Afghans are currently required to be vaccinated for measles as a condition of entry into the United States. And critical immunizations including MNR [MMR] are being administered for Afghans at military bases in the United States. And we are also — MMR, sorry. We are also exploring measures to vaccinate people while they are still overseas, so that's something we're looking into. But it was, again, a step recommended by the CDC out of an abundance of caution, given four measles cases.
Q And then I wanted to ask about a change in tone from the administration when it comes to blaming the unvaccinated. In July, you were actually asked about when Governor Ivey said "it's time to start blaming" unvaccinated folks. And you said, quote — you didn't — you didn't think it was, quote, "our role…to place blame," and it was, quote, "not the role of the federal government" to blame. But that's pretty much what President Biden did yesterday. So what has shifted, you know, in these months that you've decided to take a more aggressive tone?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I don't think it will surprise you I wouldn't characterize his speech in exactly those words or that terminology. What you heard the President convey yesterday is the next steps that he is taking using every lever of government to reduce sicknesses, to reduce hospitalizations, to protect more people, and save more lives.
I will say that he was channeli- — channeling the frustration that millions of people across this country are feeling who are vaccinated, that many governors and elected officials have also shared their frustration over.
And as is the case — I mean, it is also true that there has also been a growing frustration among people. So if you look at the trends over the last couple of months — you know, we didn't anticipate, I will say, that when there was a vaccine approved by — under a Republican President, that the Republican President took, that there would be such hesitation, opposition — vehement opposition, in some cases — from so many people of his own party in this country. We didn't anticipate that.
It's also true that there are many people in this country who weren't vaccinated who said, "I'm just waiting for the FDA to approve the vaccine." That happened several weeks ago. There's still 80 million people who are unvaccinated.
And we've also seen, during this time, the Delta variant — a transmissible variant — pose greater risk, put more people in hospitals, including kids.
So that is why people across the country are frustrated, who are vaccinated, and certainly the President was channeling that yesterday.
Q And then one more quick one on OSHA. Can you talk about enforcement of the vaccine mandate for businesses? We've already seen a lot of evidence that OSHA is overtasked. There was an IG report that suggested, even though there's been more OSHA complaints, that there's been fewer investigations. So will the administration be providing more resources to OSHA to help them to implement this mandate? How will it work?
MS. PSAKI: That's a great question, Alex. Obviously, the President just announced the steps yesterday. Those be — there'll be a rulemaking process that's going to take a little bit of time. And certainly, whatever resources they need, I'm sure the President will want them to have.
Go ahead.
Q Hi. Just a follow-up on the enforcement of that. Realistically, I mean, how long could it take? Some experts say it could take months, and the effects of this new rule, especially for companies, may not be felt in time for the Delta wave. Do you have an estimation on how long it could take?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have an estimation for you today, but there's clearly an urgency here, and we want to ensure that rulemaking proceeds rapidly, as quickly as possible.
I'll also note, though, that there are a number of companies that have already put requirements in place: United Airlines, Tyson Foods, Southwest, Houston Methodist. The huge hospital system was one of the biggest ones that did this early. They had a varying number of days for implementation, but certainly we're going to put every resource in the federal government to get this going rapidly.
We've also seen announcements. Southwest Airlines announced today it was taking the next steps toward full compliance. Business Roundtable issued a statement welcoming the President's announcement.
Certainly this will be up to a number of private sector companies. Our expectation and hope is they will take these steps on their own, and then we will continue to implement for those who are not complying.
Q Another question on the Republicans that have come out obviously criticizing the new requirements. Nineteen Republican governors have said that they plan to fight this. Has the White House been in contact with any of those governors who have criticized this since the President made this announcement yesterday?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have any engagements or calls to read out for you. We are in touch with a range of governors — Democratic and Republican — every week, if not more frequently, about a range of topics, including our efforts to address the pandemic.
We're also in touch with health officials, up and down the lines in these states, who are often implementing these plans and policies.
Q One last question for you. Just — an appeals
court just ruled in favor of Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration, saying the state can now enforce a ban on strict mask mandates. Just a response to that. Are you concerned that this is going to put more children at risk in that state?
MS. PSAKI: Well, one of the steps the President announced yesterday is that we have the funding, the resources, and the intention of having the back of leaders in school districts — superintendents and others — who do the right thing by students, and that includes putting in place mask requirements and other requirements that will keep them safe.
Q Thank you.
MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.
Q Jen, with the 9/11 commemorations, can you tell me what you are doing to sort of go back and address the huge, massive wave of hate crimes that we saw against Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and those who were taken to be either Arab or Muslim? So what is the White House's plan to address that component of the history of the aftermath of the attacks?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, I would say that ensuring that we are advocating for equity, that we are speaking out, that we are taking actions against hate crimes — verbal abuse of any kind against any group — is certainly central to what we in this administration and what the President believes in.
I'd note that the President — you'll — we'll be releasing a video from him shortly later this afternoon, and one of the messages that he's going to convey is about the importance of unity.
And as we reflect back on 9/11 and look back to that time 20 years ago — and the President was talking about this the other day with some of us and conveying that, you know, he remembers that day, being on the train on the way to Washington. The first thing he wanted to do was to go to the floor of the Capitol and convey to the American people that this is a time to come together. And so that will certainly be central to his message.
It's not just words — I'm not suggesting that — but that is certainly what you will hear him say in this video and what we will continue to convey.
I would say, though, that there will continue to be efforts and actions by the Department of Justice, by agencies across government to fight hate crimes, to speak out against them, and to take any actions in our power to do that.
Q Can I just follow up on that, just in terms of the unity question? So, I tried to ask the President today at the event at the school whether he's concerned that his actions — you know, we've seen the backlash from Republicans and others in terms of the vaccination mandates.
Is he concerned that, you know, what's happening now is actually driving the country further apart both in terms of the vaccinations? There's a lot of controversy and divisiveness also about Afghanistan and how that was handled. Do you know — are you worried that, at this point, the country is getting further apart and, you know, all the political ramifications that has in terms of getting your agenda through on the Build Back Better?
MS. PSAKI: Well, there's a lot unpack — to unpack there, so let me do my best.
Look, I think the President believes that the reason he made the — took the steps he did yesterday is because he believes that, beyond politics, that the role of the President of the United States is to protect people and save their lives.
It wasn't that we didn't anticipate there would be strong reactions — and there were. But ultimately, 75 percent of adults who are eligible in this country are vaccinated. Eighty million people — or 25 percent of people who are eligible — are not.
This is not intended to be a dividing issue; it's intended to actually — or a political issue. What his objective is to deliver on what he thinks he promised the American people, which is to save their lives.
Ultimately, there are a range of components of his agenda that are moving forward because there's broad support for them across the country — whether that is making sure we have more roads, rails, and bridges that are fixed, or making sure that we do more to save money to reduce costs for middle-class and working-class families.
So, yes, we do see some loud, vocal opponents of what the President announced yesterday; that's not a surprise. It's unfortunate, it's disappointing, it's sad, because, ultimately, these steps will save lives. But we remain confident in our ability to move the agenda forward.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. Why include the option to test out in this new Labor Department rule?
MS. PSAKI: For businesses you mean? You mean instead of just requiring businesses vaccinate? Ultimately, businesses are going to make those decisions, and this is a way to implement the OSHA regulations that, by the way, are part of what has been federal law for more than 50 years. That's why we have the capacity and the ability to do this. And we think it's going to have a huge impact.
Many businesses may choose the option of allowing for testing as an option. Many may choose that they should just make vaccines the requirement. But it leaves it up to them to make that decision.
Q And if they do testing, who pays for the testing? Is it the business or the employee?
MS. PSAKI: I would believe it's probably per business make that decision, but I would bet that most would be the businesses that pay for that.
Q And the President has said, previously, he did not want to mandate the vaccine. So can you explain why his thinking on this has changed?
MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, first, I know he said that back in December or January — so, eight, nine months ago. And I've touched on a couple of the components that we feel have changed a bit.
One is that we didn't anticipate, once the vaccine was readily, widely available and free to the public across the country — anyone who wants a vaccine has been able to get one for months — that there would be such opposition to it, especially given it was approved under the former president, a Republican president.
You know, the second piece of this is that we also anticipated — or maybe we didn't anticipate, but we knew that a number of people were waiting for FDA approval to get the vaccine; that they said that once it's approved by the FDA, that's what I'm really waiting for. There were more people who were vaccinated in August than July, but there are still 80 million people who are not vaccinated.
And the third piece is, again, the vulnerability of children, of immunocompromised, and others to the transmissible — given the transmissibility of the Delta variant. We've always been open to and taking steps that were going to save more lives, protect more people, and that's exactly what yesterday's announcement is a reflection of.
Q Last question. Is he now considering mandating vaccinations to fly domestically?
MS. PSAKI: We are always looking at more we can do to protect and save lives. Obviously, he made a significant and bold announcement yesterday, so I don't have anything to preview — predict or preview for you, but we'll continue to look for ways to save more lives.
Go ahead.
Q Yeah, thank you, Jen. So, just to clarify, is the thing that was preventing the President from issuing these mandates earlier the FDA approval? Is that what the White House was waiting for before announcing these mandates?
MS. PSAKI: There's nothing preventing, but I would say, obviously, our preference would be that the 80 million people who are not vaccinated got the vaccine when it was available; they didn't. So it's our role and it's the President's role as the President of United States to continue to take steps to protect the American people and save lives. That's what it's a reflection of.
Q The follow-up would be: If these mandates are necessary — given the risk of the Delta variant, given hospitalizations, and ultimately to save lives, as you were saying — why not do this earlier? Why not do it a month ago when hospitalizations were on the rise? You know, this has been a concern for a while.
MS. PSAKI: Well, this has actually been building on the steps that we have been taking. So, we mandated — mandated or testing in the federal government. We took, obviously, an additional step yesterday. There were a number of private sector companies, many we encouraged, who came out and put in place mandates and requirements.
This is building on the steps we had taken. But again, there are a range of factors that have happened over the last several months, and it's only natural that we continue to look for more ways to save lives given we're at the point where, clearly, we're in the most vaccine-resistant population.
And we've also seen — let me just say, we've also seen it works. We've seen companies put in place vaccine requirements. We've seen the impact of those and the number of people at United Airlines, at other companies get vaccinated within the timeline that is required. And, you know, that's something that made sense.
Q And is the administration considering offering federal funding to states who mandate this at the state level as well?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have anything else to preview or predict for you in terms of additional next steps. Obviously, we made a big, bold announcement yesterday, so I don't have anything new to preview for you.
Go ahead.
Q Considering the critical role of the FDA, why has President Biden not yet nominated an FDA director?
MS. PSAKI: He's eager to find the right person to fill that role. I would note that, just like any agency, there are hundreds of people who are career employees — the backbone of the federal government who are working every day to get the job done. And these agencies certainly continue to function at a high level, even without a director, even if his preference, of course, would be to have a confirmed director in place.
Q And on another topic: Does the White House want to see a debt limit increase in the continuing resolution to fund the government later this month?
MS. PSAKI: The White House — we continue to believe that Democrats and Republicans should do what they have done 80 times, which is to raise the debt limit, and that is what we are working toward. But I'm not going to get into what vehicle it may look like. That certainly is something we'll have discussions with about — with Congress and congressional leaders and — but we'll leave that to them.
Go ahead.
Q Drilling down on the legal implications or the legal underpinnings of this decision for this OSHA regulation, can you talk about what type of legal analysis happened before the announcement yesterday? Was that done out of the White House, the White House Office of Counsel? Or was that done in the Labor Department? And also, is part of the reason why there's a testing opt-out is that because there was a thought that that would allow this rule to be better able to stand up to legal scrutiny?
MS. PSAKI: So we don't actually anticipate — I mean, this is a law. So, Congress passed a law in 1970 — the Occupational Safety and Health Act. And the reason the Department of Labor and OSHA is able to take the strong step to protect Americans from COVID is that Congress passed that law. Yesterday's announcement by the Department of Labor is proceeding under that law. And the law basically requires the Department of Labor take action when it finds grave risk to workers. And certainly a pandemic that killed more than 600,000 people qualifies as "grave risk to workers."
And so, if the Secretary determines workers are in grave danger, he has an obligation to issue an emergency temporary standard. That's exactly what he did.
Q And so was that — was there an official analysis done to — or was it just a decision the Department of Labor said, "Look, this is a pandemic…" —
MS. PSAKI: Well, clearly, everything we do we, obviously, review legally. Everything — every bill we — every bill we support, every announc- — policy announcement we make. But I think that's pretty clear. It doesn't even take a legal degree to understand that.
Q And just on another topic: the call with President Xi of China. How long was that? And also, did they discuss meeting in person at the G20?
MS. PSAKI: It was about 90 minutes, the call. The President has spent a lot of time with President Xi in the past, as he's talked about publicly, and he drew on that shared experience in this call. So the call was very familiar. It was candid. He didn't avoid areas of disagreement, but the tone was not lecturing, nor was it condescending; it was respectful. It was 90 minutes.
I don't have anything to preview for you in terms of future meetings. I would note that this call was about keeping the channels of communication open. And what we've seen is that the importance here is about engaging Xi directly at the leader level, due to the centralization of power and the power that's in his hands, hence that was the importance of the call. It covered a range of topics.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Jen. After the rule is implemented, do you know how long companies will have to comply?
MS. PSAKI: That will be, I believe, part of the rulemaking process. So I expect we'll have more on that once that's completed.
Q And then, do you have anything to share about how you landed on employers with 100 employees or more? Why not the entire workforce?
MS. PSAKI: Well, it was an assessment made by the Department of Labor and the Secretary of Labor.
I will say it obviously impacts a huge number of people, so we think it will have an enormous impact on businesses, on companies, on communities and the workforce. But, you know, it was a determination made by the Labor Department.
Q And then, can you talk about the enforcement body — how robust that's going to be? Since we're talking about a huge number of businesses, how are you going to make sure they're complying? And I know Jeff Zients said the fine could be up to $14,000 per violation. What is a "violation"?
MS. PSAKI: Again, these are all good questions. This has to be included in the rulemaking process. It's about up to — to be specific — $13,600 per violation. But this is all a part of what would be determined in the coming weeks.
Q And one more, on masks. Public health experts, including the former Surgeon General today, Jerome Adams, have said it's not just about vaccinations; that —
MS. PSAKI: Yeah.
Q — that the moves to end masking back in May were premature. Do you have a response to that?
And also, in light of that, are there any efforts coming up to talk about masks again? Because the last we heard, it was — you know, it was kind of confusing that you only need to do it sometimes if it's high transmissibility, which is now the case, I think, nationwide. So do you —
MS. PSAKI: Well, the President —
Q — have a response to —
MS. PSAKI: I don't have a response to the former Surgeon General. I will say that, factually, back in May, when we made that announcement, the Delta variant was about 1 percent of cases. Obviously, things have changed since that period of time. It's incredibly transmissible. And obviously, as we've noted, even as vaccines became widely available to the country, there are still today 80 million people who are not vaccinated.
So, our responsibility is to continue to take steps that will protect people and save lives. And that's what we're focused on.
The President did talk about masks yesterday and fines on airplanes, and what would be required in that regard. Also masking as it relates to school certainly protects children and kids from transmissibility and the spread of the virus.
And what I would say is: We do agree — it's not just about vaccines, it's — (phone sounds). Whoa. It's — (laughter) — okay. I know what's happening. (Laughs.)
Q My phone has something to say about that.
MS. PSAKI: Okay. It's okay. No worries.
Q Thanks, Jen.
MS. PSAKI: I didn't know if that was a video game or an alarm, or if we should evacuate.
Q I've never heard that sound before.
MS. PSAKI: Okay.
Q (Inaudible.) Thank you. (Laughter.)
MS. PSAKI: Okay, great. Go ahead.
