Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ Is President Biden keeping track of those efforts? And will he talk with states to ensure Americans aren’t restricted from voting in future elections? MS. PSAKI: Well, the President’s priority is certainly ensuring, and the Vice President’s priority, is certainly ensuring more people, not fewer people, have access to voting and that it is easier, not harder, to do that.We saw some examples of voting by mail or early voting, given COVID, that could be models for the future. It’s certainly an issue he’s following and his team keeps him abreast on. ”

“ President Biden has stated he wants to unite the country. In the first two weeks he’s been in office, however — and much to the great disappointment of pro-life Americans — he has revoked the Mexico City Policy, he has ordered a review of Title 10, and issued a statement strongly supporting Roe v. Wade. Is the President going to make any effort to reach out to pro-life Americans in his administration? MS. PSAKI: Well, those have long been the President’s positions, and he certainly was just restating them and delivering on promises he made on the campaign trail. ”

“ They absolutely have the full support of the Biden administration, and we are not revisiting the decision to establish the Space Force.The desire for the Department of Defense to focus greater attention and resources on the growing security challenges in space has long been a bipartisan issue informed by numerous independent commissions and studies conducted across multiple administrations. And thousands of men and women proudly serve in the Space Force. ”

“ President Biden told House Democrats today that he considered the $1,400 direct payment a promise that he can’t break. At the same time, a new analysis from the Penn Wharton Budget Model suggests that 73 percent of those payments would go into savings instead of be spent in ways that could boost growth. I’m wondering, what’s more important: to keep the promise, or to ensure that the package does all it can to maximize growth? ”

“ I think the President is saying that — and the CDC, I should say, more importantly, and our health and medical experts are saying that ventilation and proper ventilation in schools, and especially schools — public schools that have — don’t have often the benefit of tuition and things along those lines — need to have proper ventilation.We’ve seen from health and medical experts that that is something that contributes to ensuring the safety of people indoors, which is part of what school is. ”

“ Mitch McConnell was critical today of giving generous funding to school districts where the unions are not allowing the schools to open. Do you have any reaction to that? MS. PSAKI: I would say that the purpose of giving funding, or supporting funding and getting it to school districts is to ensure that teachers are safe, that kids are safe, that there is necessary PPE, that there is ventilation in the school, that there is the environment that allows for children to return safely. And that is the President’s focus. ”

“ Q Can you clarify what President Biden’s goal is for the number of vaccines? I thought he had raised it to 150, but Zients, on today’s call, said that it was 100 million. MS. PSAKI: The President is always going to push his team to go as big on vaccine distribution as possible, but our goal remains 100 million shots in the arms of Americans in 100 days. And that was a goal that was set in the fall, before a single vaccine had been put in the arm of an American, and it was seen as bold and ambitious at the time.But we’re not going to stop at 100 million. We’re not declaring victory. ”

“ The President has certainly spoken with a number of European allies about a range of issues of mutual interest, of course, including Russia.In terms of what sanctions options may exist or what options, in terms of a response, may exist, the President, of course, reserves the right to respond in the manner and course of his choosing at any point in time. But we’re going to let this review complete, and then our policy teams will make decisions about any specific steps they’ll take in response. ”

“ Q The President has said he really wants to protect the middle class. And I’m wondering, when it comes to things like direct payments, what’s the income range by which you define the middle class? Like, how much does someone who is middle class — how much do they earn? ”

“ Well, you know, an area where there’s agreement to work together on is funding for small business, and that’s something, of course, Democrats and Republicans want to do.Our view is that this bill itself is bipartisan; 74 percent of the public support it — Republicans and Democrats, independents across the country. And there is agreement that it’s important to work with many Republicans and Democrats who fall in different — different parts of the political spectrum to put their ideas forward and consider them. ”

“ And at the appropriate time, we can certainly use it for that.But, right now, our focus is working with Pfizer and Moderna. We have confidence in their ability to produce the number of vaccines that the government has ordered on the timeline that we have committed to. And so — and that means that we would have enough vaccines here to be able to vaccinate every American by the summer.
So our focus is really more on evaluating our team, evaluating where there are needs for supplies and materials that would help deliver the vaccines into the arms of Americans. ”

“ He invites Republicans to work with him on bringing relief to the American public, and that’s why he invited them here — many of them here on Monday and why he will continue to engage with them moving forward. Q And you talk about his agenda. President Biden has been signing executive orders, speaking to the American people almost on a daily basis. Obviously, the focus is going to shift to the Senate next week. How concerned is he that the Senate trial will undercut his momentum? MS. PSAKI: I think the President has been clear there is an urgency to delivering relief to the American people. ”

“ Well, I think the point he’s making is that despite reports of, you know, individuals in different areas who may have done things that are problematic, that the vast majority of men and women serving in our law enforcement roles, serving in civil service roles, serving in roles across government do vital and essential work for the American people.Go ahead. ”

“ And would the administration be open to raising that amount? MS. PSAKI: Well, you’re right that the President is very focused on ensuring millions of Americans receive those checks and that pivotal relief at this point in time. There were $600 payments, as you know, in the $900 billion package that passed in December; this is $1,400. Together, that’s $2,000. So it would be delivering on the promise he made, and it’s something that he is firmly sticking by. Q And I had another question on immigration. The Biden administration has extended temporary protected status for Syrian nationals. ”

“ Well, they are not proposing any. So I would suggest, given that they also supported $160- or $180 billion in a package that moved forward under the Trump administration, that that’s a place where we would certainly welcome an offer from their end on what state and local funding they’d support. Q And one other on economic relief related to the pandemic. There was a full-page ad in the New York Times last week, put there by several prominent women, calling on the Biden administration to implement what they call a “Marshall Plan for Moms” in the first 100 days. ”