James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:34 P.M. EDT
MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone. Okay. Welcome back, Dr. Harper.
Q Thank you.
MS. PSAKI: Okay. I'm breaking my streak. I do have some items at the top for all of you. Lots going on in the world.
The U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms the government of Ethiopia's unprecedented action to expel the leadership of all of the United Nations organizations involved in ongoing humanitarian operations. We agree with U.N. leaders: This is a stain on our collective conscience and it must stop.
The action follows the release of reports warning that hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death in northern Ethiopia. We're deeply concerned that this action continues a pattern by the Ethiopian government of obstructing the delivery of food, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies that most — to those most in need.
We call on the U.N. Security Council and members of the international community to take urgent action to make clear to the government of Ethiopia that impeding humanitarian operations and depriving your own citizens of the basic means of survival is unacceptable.
President Biden signed an executive order, earlier this month, enabling the U.S. government to impose financial sanctions on those prolonging the conflict in northern Ethiopia. We will not hesitate to use this or any other tool at our disposal to respond quickly and decisively to those who obstruct humanitarian assistance to the people of Ethiopia.
One more items — one more item. Some news from — out of the First Lady's office: Today, Joining Forces — the White House initiative led by the First Lady to support military families — and the National Security Council released a White House report, signed by the President and Secretaries of 15 executive departments, which outlines the first round of administration-wide commitments and proposals to supporting military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors.
In May of 2021, the Office of the First Lady and the National Security Council launched a Joining Forces Interagency Policy Committee with representatives from across the executive agencies to work collaboratively on priorities related to the families of service members and veterans, caregivers, and survivors.
This report details more than 800 — 80, sorry — specific commitments and proposals from across the administration and is the product of the Interagency Policy Committee's months of work.
Going forward, this committee will continue to advance these priorities, including those outlined in the report, through cross-agency working groups and will report results and updated plans annually.
Jonathan, why don't you kick us off.
Q Thank you, Jen. A few — all on the dealings at Capitol Hill right now. Senator Manchin told reporters a short time ago that he told President Biden that $1.5 trillion would be as high as he was willing to go for the reconciliation package. What was the President's reaction to that? Is that an acceptable number?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, I would say, as we've said many times, we're not going to outline private negotiations or private discussions, and we'll let the senators speak for that, as Senator Manchin did earlier today. The way the President sees it is that this is an ongoing discussion, an ongoing negotiation.
Here's what we know: We know that timelines help make progress. We've seen that play out over the course of the last couple of days. We know that compromise is inevitable. We've also seen that play out over the last couple of days. And right now, we're clearly in the thick of it.
I'd also note that during his — during Senator Manchin's — and obviously, I'm not his spokesperson; he can certainly speak for himself — but during his Q&A he did on the Hill today, he also referenced the fact that he — that there was a document from a couple of months ago. And I'll let him and Senator — Leader Schumer speak to that. And he was repeatedly pushed and asked, "Would you go higher than 1.5? Would you go higher than 1.5?" I will leave it to all of you to determine if he answered that question.
But this is an ongoing discussion, an ongoing negotiation. And as I said yesterday, that's going to require all sides giving a little, and we're in the midst of that right now.
Q So on that — so, key Democratic House leaders have said they will, quote, "stay here all weekend" to work to get a deal. Does the President plan to do the same? Will he be at the White House working this weekend, having visitors, calling and hosting congressional lawmakers?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as Speaker Pelosi said earlier — and we're following the same motto — we're taking it hour by hour here and making a decision and determination about what's most needed.
So, as it relates to what's even going to happen this afternoon, we're open; he's available. He's been making calls this morning. He's open to having visitors. He's open to going places. But we're going to make those decisions hour by hour.
So, the weekend is a little bit away, but I will tell you that this is the President's top priority right now: getting relief to the American people; making sure we're lowering costs for the American people; we're addressing the climate crisis; we're rebuilding our roads, rails, and bridges. We've made progress, and we're still at work at it.
Q All right. And last one from me. One of the President's central promises when he was elected was to restore Americans' ability to be confident in their government again, to believe in institutions again. What is the White House's message to Americans right now who look at this and see a mess? Nearly a government shutdown, the debt ceiling is unclear, legislation not being passed, at least not yet, even though Democrats control all the bodies of government. And those Americans don't feel that they can be confident in government.
What's the White House's response?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, I would say: The President, the Speaker of the House, and the Leader have more experience getting legislation across the finish line than any group of Democrat — Democratic leaders in history.
We're in the middle of it right now. It's messy, this sausage-making, on Capitol Hill. Policymaking is messy. There's negotiations. They all have representatives who are advocating for their points of view. That's democracy in action.
What I can tell them is that we're on the path to keep the government open. You just saw that pass the Senate. It was going over to the House. That's not just keeping the government open, that's getting relief to make sure we can — we can take care of refugees, people who fought by our side in Afghanistan; that's to make sure we get relief to the Gulf Coast — additional relief to the Gulf Coast. All important priorities.
And we would also tell them that the President is going to stop at — he's going to use every lever at his disposal to fight to get this legislation passed — these two pieces of legislation — that will have a historic — make historic investments. And he's doing it because he wants to have an impact on their lives.
But these type of packages, not a lot of precedent for them, but he's going to work at it. He's going to get it done. That's what he would tell them.
Go ahead.
Q Does the President see any strategic value in a vote failing on the House floor?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as Speaker Pelosi said earlier today, we're on a path to win. I don't want to even consider any other options than that. We're in it to win it. The President is also in it to win it. That's what we're working toward. It's only 2:40 right now; lots of time left in the day. And he's going to continue to engage — stay closely engaged with her about the path forward.
Q You've repeatedly referred to this week — to this moment as an "inflection point." How is the President viewing this moment, given where his caucuses are and where his members are?
MS. PSAKI: This moment as in "this moment" — 2:40 p.m. this afternoon — or just today?
Q As in it's deadline day for an infrastructure bill; he doesn't have the votes. One member of the United States Senate is about $2 trillion below his topline number, and there's no clear way to bridge those gaps.
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think the President views this as the last several days and even longer than that. His view is we've made some progress. You've seen some members come down. You've seen some members come up. You've seen active negotiations. He's obviously been hard at work at them himself.
And what we clearly see is an agreement about the need to get this done, whether it's the infrastructure bill or the reconciliation practice — package, which has key priorities for the President — key priorities. I think the Speaker referred to it earlier today as the cause of her — as her public li- — as her time in public life. That's a bit of a paraphrase. I'll leave you to her words.
So, look, he sees this moment — he knew that as we got closer to self-imposed timelines, which are important — often these timelines can help make progress; we've seen progress made — that more members would be out there advocating for what was important to them. That's happening.
We saw — we would hopefully see more willingness to compromise; that's happening too. We're hard at work. And he's been through this before, so he's not too thrown off his game on it.
Q And then just one quick last one. Do you guys see a possibility of some type of framework agreement that could unlock the infrastructure vote today?
MS. PSAKI: That's what we're working towards.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Jen. You talked about "self-imposed timelines" as opposed to the other real timelines for debt ceiling and the CR. The progressives don't seem to feel any sense of urgency about passing infrastructure, and the moderates, like Manchin, don't seem to feel any urgency about passing reconciliation. The only Democrat that I can think of who really has a sense of urgency is Terry McAuliffe.
Do you feel it — does the President want this done in a certain amount of time, or does he also feel that this could play out over weeks and months and still come to the conclusion that he wants?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as I said a little bit earlier, we know — and the President knows from his time in public office — that timelines can help make progress. That's often how legislating happens on the Hill. And as the Speaker —
Q These ones aren't.
MS. PSAKI: Well, we would — we would disagree with that. You've seen a lot of members out there advocating for their viewpoints, being very vocal about what they want to see; some coming up, some coming down. That's a sense of progress. And we're working at it hour by hour here.
Q But does he have — does he feel that he needs it done by a certain time, like the end of the year?
MS. PSAKI: I'm not going to set new deadlines here for you. Obviously, we're trying to get it done now. We're working on it as of right now, today, and that's what our focus is on in this moment.
Go ahead. I'll go back to you, Weijia. Go ahead.
Q It's all right.
