Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ But if he wants to come to the table and have a conversation about the immigration bill, or whether he is — what ideas he has, whether it’s ideas for opening up more safe places for kids to be in shelters or alternative ideas he has, or ideas where he can work together with us, we’re certainly open to hearing them. Q Jen, the President said early in his presidency that he would raise the refugee cap, but he hasn’t actually signed that yet, and there are some 700 refugees who are waiting to come to the United States. ”

“ And we are working through our efforts at HHS and through programs in the administration to empower, support, and ensure that they can get information out to communities, that they have the funding they need to get it out, and they have the vaccine supply. And that’s what we feel is one of the most effective means of getting vaccines and shots in arms. Q So you’re not talking to Republican leadership in Congress about this or anything like that? ”

“ Clearly, addressing cyber, ensuring there’s an across-government approach is a priority for the President and something that he feels there’s a role for many components of the federal government to play. ”

“ That is, at this point in time, the biggest challenge and one of the biggest obstructions to people getting vaccinated: making sure that it’s accessible in communities. We’ve increased the number of community health centers, mass vaccination sites, mobile units. ”

“ Our team has talked about this issue, increasing the refugee cap. We want to do it in an effective manner. So I don’t have an update on the timeline, but it’s something that we’re continuing to work on. Q Is she worried that letting more refugees in now would signal to people in Central America that the U.S. is open to more immigration? ”

“ So our focus right now is on working with and coordinating with our partners, allies on a range of issues, including security in the Korean Peninsula.
Q Are you trying to tone things down with North Korea to keep from provoking them into doing something? MS. PSAKI: Well, our objective is always going to be focused on diplomacy and denuclearization in North Korea. Q Two questions from incidents in the Senate. ”

“ So — Q And any update on when the President will hold a press conference? MS. PSAKI: Soon. Maybe I’ll have an update for you by the end of the day. We’ll see. By the end of the month. By the end of the month. I will see if we have landed a full date yet. Q There’s two weeks left. MS. PSAKI: I know. Q We’re there. We’re getting there. MS. PSAKI: You can pla- — you could all place bets and see. Put some money in the pot. Q Do you think it will be this week? I mean, you’re going to update us today. ”