Jennifer Rene Psaki and Jared Bernstein

“ Thanks so much to Jen and the team for helping me be here today. This morning’s employment report revealed a stall in the American job creation machine and underscores how precarious a situation our economy is in.
The lack of job growth is a result of our failure to act appropriately in response to this immense dual crisis, and our economy and our families can’t afford for us to fail to act once again. Strong relief is urgently and quickly needed to control the virus, get vaccine shots in arms, and finally launch a robust, equitable, and racially inclusive recovery. ”

“ This is — this is key, from my perspective as an economist, who throughout my career has been motivated and concerned — I think the theme of my work has always been making sure that this economy, that our economy, the American economy provides ample opportunities for people from all walks of life, from all parts of the income scale, men and women, persons of color, communities of color have the opportunities they need to realize their potential.And right now, there is deep unused capacity in this economy, which is targeted by the American Rescue Plan. ”

“ If I could actually just follow up with you and just read some of what President Biden said today. He said, “If I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill that’s not up to the crisis, that’s an easy choice: I’m going to help the American people who are hurting now.”So has he resigned himself to the fact that he’s going to have to use reconciliation and move forward without 60 votes from Republicans? ”

“ It is a package that has funding to reopen schools. It has — is a package that it has funding to help ensure cops and firefighters can stay in their jobs. It’s a package that will get vaccines in the arms of Americans. ”

“ Well, the President fundamentally believes that having a humane and moral immigration system in place strengthens our country, strengthens our economy. And many, many business leaders across the country have said exactly the same thing.The most powerful step that can be taken now is to pass the American Rescue Plan because that is a step that economists across the board have said would help expedite economic recovery, help expedite getting people back to work. And without it, we will be years behind by — according to a lot of economic data — where we need to be. ”

“ I think the key argument there is that there are families throughout not just the lower part of the income scale, but in the middle part of the income scale, that have been suffering and trying — doing everything they can to get through this crisis.The President has been very clear on an important point here, which is that if you look at teachers; if you look at folks who are in blue-collar professions; if you look at retail workers, healthcare workers — if those folks are unemployed, they can get unemployment coverage and that helps them. ”

“ The American people who are just trying to do their job, take care of their kids, homeschool — balance everything everybody is balancing right now — just want to be able to go on a website and sign up for their vaccine.Now, one of the steps we’ve taken, we announced earlier this week, is, of course, working with pharmacies to distribute about a million doses in order for Americans to be able to do that in certain communities. ”

“ Long-term unemployment has risen — this is a great concern of the administration — reflecting the duration of the economic crisis and the fact that the virus was unconstrained during most of last year. Almost 40 percent of the unemployed in January had been so for half a year — 27 weeks or more. This 40 percent — that’s an elevated rate, and it represents a shift from temporary layoffs to permanent unemployment. ”

“ They are the first people to tell you that being — teaching in the classroom and being able to engage with kids in the classroom — or middle-schoolers or high-schoolers in the classroom — it makes their job more enjoyable, makes them more effective at what they do.The President is absolutely committed to reopening schools. He wants them not just to reopen, but to stay open, and he wants to do that in a safe way. And we’re going to rely on CDC guidance — which, again, is not officially out yet — to determine the best way to do it. ”

“ Given the most recent job numbers and the continued unemployment and what you have to say today about particularly how minority communities have been affected, is this the right time to increase the number of refugees coming into the country and to also ease immigration and border restrictions? ”

“ This pace is far below the rate necessary to pull us out of the pandemic jobs deficit. There are about 10 million fewer jobs now, relative to February. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, which still remains almost 3 points above the rate in February 2020 of 3.5 percent, before the pandemic.
Over the same period, more than 4 million workers have dropped out of the labor force. If you drop out of the labor force, you’re not counted in the unemployment rate. ”

“ There are — I guarantee you there are politicians on both sides of the aisle who are chomping at the bit to make investments in public goods in this country — to do an infrastructure bill that repairs, not just maintenance, but gets into clean energy, into broadband, into the kinds of investments that you’ve heard the President talk about. ”

“ What is the White House’s position today on when those checks should start to phase out and who should not be eligible for them? MS. PSAKI: There’s an ongoing discussion about it, and it is an active discussion. The decision has — a final conclusion has not been made. As Jared was saying, those conversations are happening with Democrats and Republicans.And as I said, kind of, the other day — but it still is the status today — the President is firm on the necessity that people receive, who are eligible, $1,400 checks. He’s not movable on that becoming smaller. ”

“ Q But the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — as you know, in the White House briefing just a couple hours ago — was a big X over airplanes; people should avoid travel. Is there an exception to that policy? MS. PSAKI: Well, the key, Zeke, is ensuring that people don’t take steps to make others vulnerable in our effort to get the pandemic under control. As you know, any President of the United States, Democrat or Republican, obviously takes Air Force One, a private plane, when they travel. ”

“ There are 10 million unemployed people. There are two and a half fewer women in the labor force than last year. As I mentioned, black and Hispanic unemployment rates are 9 percent. We’ve got a job market in stall. ”

“ So what exactly does President Biden expect from the U.S. allies? MS. PSAKI: From our U.S. allies? Well, we’re going to work in close consultation, of course, in partnership with our U.S. allies on a range of issues. We talked about Iran a little bit earlier in the briefing. Of course, strategic competition with China is part of that. You know, but I can only really speak for what our policy is here, from the White House and the United States.This administration sees the United States as engaged in strategic competition with China, and technology is a central domain of that competition. ”

“ While the unemployment rate for men and women is relatively similar, women have left the labor force in numbers that are of great concern to us. The employment rate among what we call “prime-age workers” — women 25 to 54 — is down 4 percentage points, 2.6 million women since February. ”

“ You know, I don’t want to get ahead of where we are in the process, but the President believes that increasing the minimum wage is something that would help American families, and it is essential to helping people who are struggling and something that workers certainly deserve. We will leave it to the Democrats and Republicans in Congress to see if this is possible through the parliamentary process of reconciliation.Go ahead, Karen. ”

“ Workers of color have been more likely to lose their jobs than white workers. In January, the unemployment rate for black workers was 9.2 percent and was 8.6 percent for Hispanic workers, compared to 5.7 percent for whites and 6.6 for Asian workers. ”

“ That there is fire under the bellies — in the bellies of people in Congress to get this package through, move it through the process over the coming days and weeks.But that’s up to them on the timeline. He just is going to continue to argue for urgency because the American people, until they know when they’re going to get checks, until they know when schools are going to get funding, it’s hard for them to plan. ”

“ But many of those folks have kept their jobs, many of them are essential workers, yet they’ve lost hours. They’ve lost wages. They’re struggling to make ends meet. They face nutritional constraints. Often, they face foreclosure or eviction moratorium — which, by the way, forbearance, when it comes to mortgage, does not mean forgiveness. So, many of these families are accumulating significant debt that will come due.
Now, in terms of the parameters — you’ve asked about this — let’s do just a little bit of wonky policy analysis, if that’s okay. ”

“ The risk is a deflationary risk, which motivates us to go home — or to go big or to go home. And the costs of inaction, of not addressing these risks, are too steep and too costly to these vulnerable — to these vulnerable groups, relative to the likelihood of overheating. ”

“ And one of the factors we’ve seen in data about COVID, of course, is that the pandemic has had an undue impact on many communities — and commu- — including, I’m sorry, many communities of color. I don’t have the exact data on Asian American communities, specifically, though I’m happy to check on that.But, you know, his focus is on getting the pandemic under control in order to help provide a bridge to economic relief and recovery, and that’s one of the ways he can help address that. ”

“ Well, I think the President listens to the American people who are, frankly, not too worried about what parliamentary procedure gets them relief, gets shots in people’s arms, and reopens schools.And he is certainly hopeful that there is opportunity for this bill, whatever form it takes, to have bipartisan support. ”

“ And the urgency should prompt Democrats and Republicans — many Democrats are — to come together to support the American Rescue Plan so we can get schools the funding they need. Schools are planning, but many of them don’t have the funding they need to take the steps necessary to reopen. ”

“ He didn’t run on a promise to unite the Democratic and Republican Party into one party in Washington.This package has the vast majority of support from the American public. This is something that people want. They want to see it passed. They want these checks to get into communities. They want this funding to go to schools. They want more money for vaccine distribution.
He is certainly not — I wouldn’t draw that conclusion. He is somebody who is keeping the door open. He will remain engaged with Republicans in the days ahead. ”

“ That’s our position here, and obviously he will communicate that to allies and partners as he’s having engagements with them.
Did you have a second question?
Q Actually, Asian American women actually have the highest jobless rates over the past six months — MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Q — and reports indicate that’s because of racism during the pandemic against them. So, other than signing the memo, what President Biden can do to reduce the racism against Asian Americans and help them to actually find a job or to deal with their current situation? ”

“ So this is a normal part of the interagency policy process, just as there are meetings about immigration, criminal justice, the economy every single day across government.
Q And — but on the topic of Iran — understood — given that you say Iran will be raised in this meeting, is there a timeline for when President Biden would like to try to come back to the table and get a deal on the Iran nuclear deal? MS. PSAKI: Well, that’s really up to Iran. If Iran comes back into full compliance with the obligations under the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal — just for people who don’t like acronyms ”