White House pressed on Biden's absence during funding talks
White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed Friday about why President Biden has stayed out of the public eye when it comes to government funding talks that are gripping Capitol Hill.
With less than 12 hours left before a government shutdown, Jean-Pierre repeatedly told reporters she would not weigh in on a "hypothetical" when asked what plans are being put in place should funding run out by midnight Saturday morning.
Instead, Jean-Pierre laid the blame entirely on Republicans, saying they "blew up this deal" and noting that as the reason Biden is staying above the fray.
“Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here, and they are the ones that are creating this mess,” she said. “This is a strategy that we have done before, many times and this is for Republicans in the House to fix, they created this mess.”
“Republicans blew up this deal, they did, and they need to fix it,” Jean-Pierre said.
The White House argued the “way out” of the chaos would be for lawmakers to pass the first continuing resolution that was negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). That package included a host of controversial proposals including a lawmaker health care plan and pay hike and was ultimately torpedoed by President-elect Trump and his top allies.
“It is very easy to fix this, the mess that Republicans have created — bipartisan agreement, move forward, keep your word,” Jean-Pierre said.
Trump also injected chaos into the process when he demanded the debt ceiling be raised or eliminated before he takes office, in part to lay that blame on Biden.
Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke Friday morning with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and his team has been in touch with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Vice President Harris has also been absent from the spotlight this week. She had planned to go to Los Angeles on Thursday but ended up canceling that trip. Jean-Pierre would not say why those plans changed.
Jean-Pierre also would not confirm whether Biden planned to stay at the White House over the holiday if the government shuts down.
The press secretary also insisted that there was still time to make a deal and avoid a shutdown.
“We believe there’s still time for that to not happen, for Republicans to do the right thing, to hold up their part of the deal and move forward with the bipartisan agreement,” Jean-Pierre said.
House Republicans earlier on Friday appeared to be eyeing a new spending proposal that would tee up votes on three separate measures, including to fund the government, appropriate disaster relief and allocate farm assistance, three sources told The Hill on Friday. It does not include Trump's debt ceiling demands.
Trump on Friday morning called for the government to shut down while Biden is president and not after he is sworn in in a month.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
When questioned about Trump’s comments, Jean-Pierre said Republicans didn’t move ahead with the bipartisan deal because of Trump and Musk “so, that’s the reality.”
“This could be avoided, Republicans in Congress don’t want to go this route. There was a whole different route they were going that would have been done in a bipartisan way,” Jean-Pierre said. “They had that deal.”
Jean-Pierre warned though that presidential transition activities, ahead of Trump’s inauguration in a month “would be restricted” by a potential shutdown.
“The choice to allow a transition to move forward is in the hands of Republicans in Congress,” she said.