White House pressed on Biden refusing to speak publicly ahead of shutdown

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre volleyed away reporters’ questions on Friday about President Biden’s lack of public appearances amid the ongoing government funding fight as a partial shutdown looms. 

Jean-Pierre refused to answer why the president has not spoken to the American public about his position, and she instead blamed Republicans, President-elect Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and their “billionaire friends” like Elon Musk for the chaos on Capitol Hill. 

“Why hasn’t President Biden said anything in the public about this? Don’t the American people deserve to know why millions of federal workers could enter this holiday period without a paycheck?” Jean-Pierre was asked during her daily press briefing. 

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“All Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here and they are the ones who have created this mess. That’s the reality. That’s the fact,” she responded. “This is not the first time we’ve been here. And the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works. He’s been around for some time. He understands what strategy works here to get this done.”

Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden has held phone calls with Democratic leaders in Congress — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. — but would not say if the president has spoken to the House speaker with regard to the ongoing discussions. 

“He has been getting regular updates from his team. His team has been in touch with congressional members from both sides of the aisle,” she said. 

A streamlined version of a bill backed by Trump to avert a partial government shutdown failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night.

The bill, which needed two-thirds of the House chamber to pass, failed by a vote of 174 to 235. The national debt has soared to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

Jean-Pierre said Republicans went back on their word and “blew up this deal.”

“Republicans need to stop playing politics with a government shutdown. And they are doing the bidding. They’re doing the bidding of their billionaire friends. That’s what we’re seeing at the expense of hard-working Americans,” she said. 

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“There is a bipartisan agreement that Republicans tanked because of what they were directed to do by Elon Musk and President-elect Trump. That’s what happened. That is the reality that we’re in now.”

Musk, an outspoken critic of government waste, has weighed in on the spending bill debate and led a conservative revolt against the first 1,547-page bill due to its bloated spending provisions, calling for lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats.

He supported the newer, slimmer version, which was ultimately rejected by House members. 

Reporters tried several different ways to try and get Jean-Pierre to comment on the president’s role in the matter, but she continued to sidestep.

“The president is the President of the United States, and he is leading,” she told a reporter, to which he responded: “To be clear, the strategy is he is leading by staying in the background?”

“The strategy is that Congress, Republicans in particular, need to do their jobs and get out of their own way and focus on the American people, not their billionaire friends. That is what needs to happen. And that’s what the president wants to see,” she replied.

Jean-Pierre also warned that a shutdown could disrupt the presidential transition process for the incoming administration.

“If there is a shutdown — and I don’t want to get too much into hypotheticals — but this is the reality, transition activities will be restricted with limited exceptions, obviously, such as to prevent imminent threats to the safety of human life or the protection of property,” she said.

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Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday that Republicans have a “good plan” to avoid a partial government shutdown. 

Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., added: “I think you come to an agreement, then you get together and sit down and figure out, you know, if we can get across the finish line. And that’s probably what we’re about to do now.”