Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ And as I said in response to Christian’s [sic] — Kristen’s question, the President wants to not just open schools, he wants them to stay reopened. He wants kids to be back in school learning five days a week. He wants everybody — parents to feel safe, teachers to feel safe.
That’s why he asked his Department of Education and the CDC to work together on guidelines. That’s why he’s put funding — proposed funding in the American Rescue Plan, because he knows that’s not going to happen on its own. It’s going to need some assistance to make it — make it reality. ”

“ Well, I think the President said during his Super Bowl interview that he certainly hoped that next year, at this time, we would all be watching the Super Bowl at parties, and the stands would be full.Our — but we defer to our health and medical team who look at the entire country — and I’m not sure if this individual is just looking at Nevada or looking at the entire country — and what their guidelines and their guidance offers us.
We know that we will have enough vaccines to provide them to the American people by the end of the summer, but a vaccine is not a vaccination. ”

“ Today our COVID response team gave an update on its progress and sweeping action in addressing the health crisis facing our nation. They announced the launch of five new community vaccination centers across Texas and New York State. ”

“ It takes some time to get a paid media campaign off the ground. We want to do that in an effective manner.We’re not — we’re not waiting or delaying. We obviously just announced the Equity Task Force today. All of these individuals are experts, represent different parts of the country and different communities in the country who are deeply impacted. We expect to have many of them out there communicating broadly. We have done dozens and dozens and dozens of interviews with the senior administration officials, with Cabinet officials to communicate about the American Rescue Plan. ”

“ He will be out next week, as you mentioned, and I expect he will be out more in the weeks ahead to communicate effectively and directly with the American public, but a little different from the Affordable Care Act.
What we’re doing, in part — it may be what’s — the components of what are in the plan: reopening schools; getting vaccines in arms; ensuring that Americans who don’t have food have — or have, you know, concerns about putting food on the table have money to get through this period of time — is working. ”

“ Well, it may seem like some time ago, but the President has spoken repeatedly to the events of January 6th. On January 6th, he called the insurrection at the Capitol “an unprecedented assault” on our democracy, bordering on sedition. He called — said it was “unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times.”Again, when the House voted on January 13th, following that vote, he called the events of January 6th an “armed insurrection against the United States of America” that was carried out by “political extremists and domestic terrorists, who were incited to this violence by President Trump.” ”

“ The President also raised his priority to increase wages and ensure no one who makes minimum wage is living below the poverty line. The business leaders shared the experiences of their own workforces and discovered — discussed, sorry — discussed the challenges their employees and customer base face to overcome the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. ”

“ Well, I haven’t spoken with the President about the decision by Mark Cuban on the Dallas Mavericks — or the, I should say, the National Anthem — but I know he’s incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the Anthem and all that it represents, especially for our men and women serving in uniform around the world.He’d also say that, of course, that part of the — that pride in our country means recognizing moments where we as a country haven’t lived up to our highest ideals, which is often and at times what people are speaking to when they take action at sporting events. ”

“ First off, you know, it’s been over a month since the January 6th Capitol attack, and we have not received any kind of public briefing from the Capitol Police. A lot of people have raised concerns about that. Does President Biden want to see that kind of briefing? And also, on a similar note, what does he think about efforts from — such as Congressman Jamaal Bowman’s to establish a congressional investigation or commission into the Capitol attack? MS. PSAKI: We certainly leave the determination about whether there’s a congressional investigation up to members of Congress. ”

“ In New York, sites in Brooklyn and Queens will open the same week and will together have a capacity for 6,000 shots a day. This follows two sites announced last week and other ongoing efforts to accelerate equitable vaccination efforts, including by increasing weekly state vaccine supply by 25 percent since entering office; deploying federal personnel to support vaccination efforts nationwide; and over $3.15 billion in funding to states, tribes, and territories.
Second, our team also announced members of its Health Equity Task Force. ”

“ So, we are certainly out there, everybody is focused on this every day, selling it, and the public seems to like what they’re hearing. But we — our job is not done; we need to get it across the finish line. It’s why the President will be traveling and others will be out there even more in the weeks ahead. ”

“ Discussing with experts all of the ideas they have to put Americans back to work — Q You’re the spokesperson MS. PSAKI: (Laughs.) We have — I don’t have any update on a date. Obviously, there are — you know, there — the impact of COVID includes the fact that it is challenging to envision how you’d have 500 people in attendance at a joint session, but obviously — Q Do you think you can remote? Is a remote speech possible? Is that on the table? MS. PSAKI: There are — there are a range of options under discussion. ”

“ Obviously, is — comes to that job with a great deal of experience working on these issues, including during challenging times.But since you gave me the opportunity, I mean, one of the things we are certainly doing is communicating that, due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time, as an administration, to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border, now is not the time to come, and the vast majority of people will be turned away. Asylum processes at the border will not occur immediately; it will take time to implement. ”

“ And as DHS and CBP have said, you know, when long-term — you know, this is — you know, there have been incredibly narrow and limited circumstances where individuals have been — have come into the country awaiting for their hearing, but the vast majority have been — have been turned away. ”

“ So the bottom line of that study is actually to improve the fit of the mask, and a second mask is one of several options to be able to do that.
Q And then, just to follow up, and then I’ll hand off: In terms — where is the — is there a plan underway for the White House administration to send out masks to Americans — to mail them to addresses so Americans will have their own high-quality mask, when there’s often confusion as to what kind should be worn, what offers more protection? ”

“ He said that it would save 50,000 lives — more than 50,000 lives if Americans wore them for 100 days.There are a range of options under consideration on to –how to ensure that people who need masks the most, people who need this type of protection the most receive it, but no decision has been — no final decision has been made. ”

“ And he always enjoys traveling and engaging directly with people, so while he’s there, he’ll do a town hall, and that’s an opportunity to hear directly from people about how the dual crises are impacting them.In terms of other events and stops he’ll do while he’s there, the schedule is still kind of coming together and being finalized. ”

“ You know, the President’s focus is on reiterating what he did last weekend, which is that in order to move forward, Iran needs to comply with the outlines of the JCPOA and the agreement that was formed just a few years ago.In terms of any additional steps under consideration, I don’t have any update on that.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. I wanted to ask you about the budget, which I know it’s a little early to be thinking about, but — MS. PSAKI: It’s never too early to talk about the budget — skinny budget, all sorts of budgets. ”

“ The President’s 12 members — the 12 members will bring noteworthy backgrounds and expertise to represent a range of racial and ethnic groups and other key constituencies, including children and youth; educators and students; healthcare providers; immigrants; individuals with disabilities ”

“ LGBTQ individuals; public health experts; rural communities; state, local, territorial, tribal governments; and labor unions.
This board is charged with issuing a range of recommendations to help inform the COVID-19 response and recovery, including equitable allocation of resources. And, of course, it will be chaired by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
Finally, someone in here — I think it was your colleague from AP — asked last — a couple of days ago, I should say, about the President getting COVID tested. And I just wanted to provide an update that the President’s last COVID test was last Thursday ”

“ I want to pick up on Jonathan’s comment on the President — or question on the President not engaging on impeachment. Indulge me. MS. PSAKI: Sure, always happy to. Q How should the American public interpret the President’s silence on this? ”