Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ Q Okay, back to Neera Tanden. MS. PSAKI: Sure. Q Tomorrow, the committee is set to vote on her. Does the White House still expect that tomorrow she will be President Biden’s nominee to run the Budget Office? MS. PSAKI: That’s certainly our expectation. And as I noted earlier, you know, Neera has rolled up her sleeves. She’s getting to work. We’re getting to work. And we understand that we need to continue to engage with a range of members, from Democrats to Republicans, and we’re going to keep doing that. But she is the President’s choice because she’s experienced and qualified. ”

“ And there hasn’t been enough time to do enough to impact the circumstances on the ground in a number of these communities.And obviously, as these unaccompanied kids come to the border, it’s completely heartbreaking. We’re not going to expel these kids. We want to process and get them into facilities as quickly as possible. But certainly, we’re always looking for ways to do more to communicate more effectively and clearly with communities in the region about why this is not the time to come. We need more time to put in place a humane and moral immigration system. ”

“ Well, the President is committed to ensuring homeownership is something that more Americans can participate in. He knows owning a home is a key measure of building generational wealth, and he’s already taken steps through executive actions to help provide some security to Americans struggling to keep their homes in the midst of this crisis by extending foreclosure and forbearance moratoriums.The American Rescue Plan would also provide $10 billion for the Homeowners Assistance Fund to help struggling homeowners keep up. ”

“ Over the last few months, we’ve seen reports that say that people outside of black and Hispanic and vulnerable communities have been able to access the vaccines in those communities. In California, there are wealthy residents who are using access codes. In New York, we’re seeing that happen. What’s the White House’s plan for stopping this, and why is it still happening? ”

“ This message, according to President Biden, is literally dangerous. So, does he have a problem with such a high-profile person giving out what he thinks is a dangerous message? MS. PSAKI: Well, we haven’t even seen the former President speak at CPAC. Obviously, President Biden has spoken to his concerns about the rhetoric of the former President, how he was unfit for office. That’s why he ran against him and why he defeated him. But we’re not going to spend too much time here focused on or talking about President Trump — former President Trump. ”

“ But our overarching objective is to keep the focus not on any one individual, whether it’s the current President or the former President, but on the American people and what we’re doing to help bring them relief, to get the pandemic under control. And certainly there’s been more than enough time spent on former President Trump. And so if there’s not a reason to do it, we’re probably not going to be adding more commentary on it. Q Okay. And on the topic of immigration, the Biden administration is also reopening a detention center in Florida, formerly known as the Homestead Detention Facility. ”

“ On that point, there’s a team that’s working specifically on trying to stop wealthy residents or we- — or people from those communities? MS. PSAKI: No, I think what I was conveying is, as you know, there is an equity task force that’s a part of the COVID team, led by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. And obviously, reports that individuals who are not from the communities intended to, you know, be the primary recipients of the vaccines, if — you know, that is, you know, certainly something they would focus on and work on issues to address. ”

“ The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis are devastating black communities. While black Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, they represent nearly 24 percent of age-adjusted deaths from COVID-19. ”

“ There is an economic effect though, of course, now: 11,000 people had jobs connected to this in the United States at least. What does the White House say to those people, to the Canadian workers, who now are going to be out of a job if this pipeline is indeed shut down? MS. PSAKI: Well, let me first say that it was the Obama-Biden administration when the assessment was done and done by the State Department at the time. ”

“ Well, you’re right that one of the concerns that we have expressed from here is a lack of data sharing. We’ve not seen the initial data or the base of data that the report has been based on. And we have concerns and questions about the process ... and we have concerns and questions about the process used to reach the final conclusions.What we’ve been calling for and will continue to advocate for is an open, transparent international organization, led by the World — I should say investigation — led by the World Health Organization. ”

“ These are facilities — let me be — let me be clear here. One, there’s a pandemic going on. I’m sure you’re not suggesting that we have children right next to each other in ways that are not COVID safe, are you? Q I’m suggesting that Kamala Harris said that this facility — putting people in this facility was a human rights abuse committed by the United States government. And Joe Biden said, “Under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes of border” — “at the border of kids being kept in cages.”Now it’s not under Trump. It’s under Biden. ”

“ I just want to give this context, as people need to understand the process.But because of COVID-19 protocols, the — like social distancing requirements — the capacity at existing Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters has been significantly reduced, because of course you can’t have a child in every bed. There needs to be spacing, and we abide by those spacing to protect the kids who are living in those facilities for a short period of time. ”

“ While in Texas, the President will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed. Clearly, there are still more details of the trip coming together, and as we have those, we will make those available to all of you.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Jen. Two questions. S&P reported this morning that home prices are up 10 percent over the past year. We’ve seen inventories of homes for sale at record lows. And that means first-time buyers aren’t able to make the step into housing that’s been a bedrock of middle-class identity. What is this administration doing on housing affordability? ”

“ That’s — that is never our intention of replicating the immigration policies of the past administration.But we are in a circumstance where we are not going to expel unaccompanied minors at the border. That would be inhumane. That is not what we are going to do here, as an administration. We need to find places that are safe under COVID protocols for kids to be, where they can have access to education, health and mental services consistent with their best interest. ”

“ The President also looks forward to discussing how his American Rescue Plan will deliver immediate relief to the participants, their communities, and the American people by keeping frontline workers on the job with $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments; providing $1,400 per-person checks to working families ”

“ But in terms of what is next, I think we’re focused now on first getting 300 million Americans vaccinated. And then, any guidelines on whether a booster will be needed — the timeline of it — we would certainly defer to health and medical experts.Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Jen, and thank you for taking so many questions. I’d like to quickly hit on three points. Yesterday, the White House publicly confirmed that President Biden had mandated that he have full visibility on potential drone strikes overseas. ”

“ Q But data we obtained said that there were at least 179 kids who had spent more than three days in those kinds of facilities in January, despite internal policy dictating that all minors should get out within three days.Immigration attorneys — attorneys that work with these kids, advocates — seeing all of this and saying, “This isn’t that much better than what was going on before.” In regards to the HHS — the use of the HHS facilities, they say, “It’s a step backwards.” ”