Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ The President also put an end to the Muslim ban, a policy rooted in religious animus and xenophobia.
He signed a proclamation, effective immediately, halting further funding or construction of the previous administration’s border wall and terminating the so-called “national emergency use” to wastefully divert billions for wall construction.
Also today, President Biden sent an immigration bill to Congress. The U.S. Citizenship Act modernizes our immigration system. It provides hardworking people who’ve enriched our communities and lived here for decades an opportunity to earn citizenship. ”

“ He signed an executive order reversing Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization. This will strengthen our own efforts to get the pandemic under control by improving global health. And tomorrow—we’re not wasting any time—Dr. Fauci will participate remotely in the meeting of the World Health Organization as the U.S. head of delegation.
President Biden also officially appointed a COVID-19 response coordinator—a position and team we had already previously announced, but made it official today—to create a unified national response to the pandemic. ”

“ What I can convey on climate change, of course, and addressing the climate crisis—it’s one of the four crises that he’s identified will impact his administration; is impacting not just the American people, but the global community—is that rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital step toward doing that. ”

“ Q Jen, has President Biden invited congressional leaders to sit down and talk about the COVID relief measure that he introduced? MS. PSAKI: Well, he has been discussing the COVID relief measures—the entire package that has, as you know, unemployment insurance; it has relief and assistance for the American people. It also has money to reopen schools, which I know, as a mother, impacts all of us.But he has been discussing that with Democrats and Republicans since long before he was sworn in today. ”

“ We have prioritized getting our national security team in place, given the crises we’re facing, given the importance of keeping the American people safe at this time. But we are eager for those to move forward quickly in the coming days, ideally tomorrow, by Friday. We’d like to move them quickly. It’s something that he is raising in his conversations, as we all are, with members of Congress and their teams. ”

“ Well, I think the intention was to make the speech not about any individual elected official, any current President, former President, but make it about the American people and the moment we’re facing in history right now—the the struggles that millions of Americans are facing who don’t have jobs, the fear people have about the health of their grandparents and their cousins and their brothers—and to make it more about the strength of the American people when they come together and not about any individual.But as you saw in his speech, it was forward looking ”

“ But I use that as an example because that’s one step, but we also know that we need to be models here at home as we are addressing an issue like this. The United States continues to be one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and we need to put in place policies and take steps here to address that as well. ”

“ It’s not just impacting Democrats; it’s impacting Republicans. It’s impacting red states and blue states. And this plan is intended to address the suffering of the American people. So we hope—and, frankly, we expect—Republicans in Congress and Democrats, too, will support assistance that will bring relief to the people they represent.This is a conversation. He, of course, gave a primetime address, as you all know, last week—it seems like a long time ago, but it wasn’t—to announce his specifics, and he has already had a number of conversations with Democrats and the Republicans. ”

“ Q On a lighter note, will he keep Donald Trump’s Air Force One color scheme change? MS. PSAKI: This is such a good question. I have not had the opportunity to dig into that today, given the number of executive actions, orders, the inauguration—a few things happening. I will venture to get you an answer on that, and maybe we can talk about it in here tomorrow. Q Jen, just one quick one before we let you go. Just following up on Peter’s question: Does President—President Biden believe that President Trump needs to be held accountable for the Capitol insurrection a couple of weeks ago? ”

“ We’re going to have more to share from our health experts in the coming days, and I will venture to get them in here to give you all a briefing on the specifics. But we really want to lean into them on their expertise on that front.Go ahead. ”

“ And he’s going to leave the mechanics, the timing, and the specifics of how Congress moves forward on impeachment to them.
Q And a quick follow-up: On President Trump’s Inauguration Day, he filed the paperwork to run for reelection –- same day. Does President Biden have any plans to do that today, late, or in the coming days? MS. PSAKI: I will say, having talked to him today, his focus is not on politics; it is on getting to work and solving the problems of the American people. ”