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 consuming Capitol Hill.
With less than 12 hours remaining until a government shutdown, Jean-Pierre repeatedly told reporters she would not engage in a “hypothesis” when asked what plans would be put in place should funding run out by midnight Saturday morning.
Instead, Jean-Pierre placed the blame squarely on Republicans, saying they “blew up this deal” and citing that as a reason Biden is staying out of the fight.
“Americans need to know that Republicans are standing in the way and that they are the ones creating this mess,” she said. “This is a strategy that we have done many times and that the Republicans in the House need to fix, they created this mess.”
“The Republicans blew up this deal, that’s what they did, and they have to fix it,” Jean-Pierre said.
The White House argued that the “way out” of the chaos was for lawmakers to pass the first continuing resolution negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). That package contained a number of controversial proposals, including a health care plan from lawmakers and a pay raise, and was ultimately torpedoed by President-elect Trump and his key allies.
“It’s very easy to fix this mess that the Republicans have created – bipartisan agreement, go ahead, keep your word,” Jean-Pierre said.
Trump also created chaos in the process by calling for the debt ceiling to be raised or eliminated before he took office, in part to shift blame to Biden.
Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) on Friday morning and that his team has been in touch with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle .
Vice President Harris was also out of the spotlight this week. She had planned to travel to Los Angeles on Thursday but ultimately canceled that trip. Jean-Pierre would not say why these plans changed.
Jean-Pierre also would not confirm whether Biden planned to remain in the White House over the holidays in case the government shuts down.
The spokesman also insisted that there was still time to reach an agreement and avoid a closure.
“We believe there is still time for this not to happen, for Republicans to do the right thing, hold up their end of the bargain and move the bipartisan agreement forward,” Jean-Pierre said.
House Republicans appeared to be so earlier on Friday a fresh spending proposal in mind This would affect votes on three different measures, including funding the government, adequate disaster relief and providing farm aid, three sources told The Hill on Friday. This does not include Trump’s calls for a debt ceiling.
Trump on Friday morning demanded the government to close while Biden is president, rather than after he is sworn in a month from now.
“If there is a government shutdown, let it start now, under the Biden administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem that needs to be solved, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Jean-Pierre said Republicans didn’t move forward with the bipartisan deal because of Trump and Musk, “so, that’s the reality.”
“This could be avoided, the Republicans in Congress do not want to go down this path. They took a completely different path that could have been taken in a cross-party way,” said Jean-Pierre. “They had this deal.”
But Jean-Pierre warned that the president’s transition activities would be “curtailed” by a possible shutdown ahead of Trump’s inauguration in a month.
“The decision to move forward with a transition rests in the hands of Republicans in Congress,” she said.
