06/13/23: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

hi everyone good afternoon okay so we're gonna get to it this

evening the president will welcome Community leaders lawmakers students Educators and hundreds of others to the

White House for a historic Juneteenth celebration concert on the south lawn you probably are hearing a little bit of

the sound check right now in 2021 President Biden signed bipartisan

legislation establishing Juneteenth as the nation's newest federal holiday since Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day

nearly four decades ago establishing Juneteenth as a Federal holiday was only

the beginning of the Biden Harris administration's efforts to ensure that America lives up to its highest ideals

since taking office a couple of things that the president has been able to accomplish is created a federal

government that reflects the diversity of America strengthening the economy and lowered the unemployment rate for black

Americans at a historic low to 4.7 percent increased across increased

access excuse me to home ownership nominated more black women to federal courts than every president combined

nearly one-third of judicial appointments are black Americans provided nearly 7 billion dollars in

historic resources and support for historic black colleges and universities taken action on marijuana reform by

pardoning all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana

ensured everyone has access to clean drinking water by replacing lead pipes

and modernizing bridges roads ports and airports as well lower the prices of

prescription drugs and energy costs for seniors through the inflation reduction act restricted the use of Choke holds

and signed an executive order for account of accountable and effective policing when Senate Republicans block

legislation from reaching the president's desk brought together Democrats and Republicans to pass the

first major gun safety reform in 30 years to keep our community Safe Cut black child poverty in half as a result

of the child tax credit made possible through the American Rescue plan and fought for ten thousand dollars in debt

relief for all eligible borrowers and up to twenty thousand for bars who received

Pell Grants now as the president has said it's not enough to just commemorate

juneteen teeth to honor the true meaning of Juneteenth we must not rest until we deliver the promise of America for all

Americas lastly I'd also note that the concert celebration takes place during the black music month where the

president will uplift American art forms that sing to the soul of the American

Experience also today we are all we are announcing a new security assistant package to help

meet Ukraine's security and defense needs the package includes key capabilities such as Bradley infantry

fighting Vehicles Striker armored personnel carriers artillery rounds Stinger anti-anti

aircraft systems Javelin anti-armor system Ammunition To Us provided High

Mars and more than 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition to help Ukraine

retake its Sovereign territory the package also contains additional munition for Ukraine's air defenses to

help protect the Ukrainian people this is the 40th drawdown of equipment from

Department of Defense inventories using presidential drawdown authorities for Ukraine and we appreciate the bipartisan

support of Congress which has made this Aid possible the United States will

continue to stand with the people of Ukraine as they courageously defend their sovereignty their democracy

against Russia's aggression finally today's CPI report showed continued

progress in our fight against inflation annual inflation is now the lowest in

more than two years and has fallen for 11 months from a peak of 9.1 percent to

just last June down to four percent last summer last pardon me last month wages

Rose over the last year accounting for inflation this is especially helping lower income workers who have seen their

wages rise faster than others helping them catch up after Decades of widening

wage gaps Energy prices fell 11 over the last year gas prices are down by a

dollar 40 cents from their Peak after Putin's Invasion and grocery prices are

trending down with egg prices and particularly into particular nearly 30

30 since January of course there is more work to be done and the president's

agenda is helping lower prescription drug costs cap insulin and lower energy bills as well President Biden's growing

the economy from the middle out and bottom up with more than 13 million jobs created and unemployment under four

percent for almost a year and a have House Republicans on the other hand have

a different agenda their approach is trickle-down approach today they are marking up their tax cam

2.0 which would give handouts to Rich special interests and big corporations

that would increase the debt by hundreds of billions of dollars

while also repealing Investments that are fueling our manufacturing Resurgence

creating jobs and lowering energy costs for working families with that just the

floor is yours thanks Kareem uh three subjects first since you mentioned

Ukrainian or topper Russian President Vladimir Putin social training forces have suffered both catastrophic losses

he says she crane lost 160 tanks and over 300 Harvard Vehicles while Russia

lost 54 tanks are Putin's statements accurate so I'm just going to repeat

what the president said during his uh during his remarks when you all saw him

just moments ago when he was with us with the secretary Journal of NATO I'm going to leave Ukraine certainly speak

to their military operations that's something that we're going to do from here as it relates to the comments that

president Mr Putin has made as you know we don't put a stock in Russia's public assessment and so I'll just leave it

there then on the big news of this afternoon First Lady Joe Biden said it's a little

shocking that many Republicans support Donald Trump after his indictment

what has President Biden said was he also shocked does he agreed with his fight I'm just not going to comment on

anything that's related to the to uh the indictment uh we're just going to be very mindful here and respect the

Department of Justice let them do their job and then lastly the office of special counsel has said that your use of mother

Republicans violated the hatchback what kind of guidance have you previously been given by the White House Council on

that matter so let me just lay lay this down I'm really glad that you asked the question I know there's been many news

reports on this so as we've made very clear throughout our time in this Administration that we do everything

that we can to uphold certainly the Hatch Act and take the law very

seriously a couple of things that I want to lay out here so with uh you know many

of you have mentioned with friendly consternation how often we take the we take the Hatch Act and we follow the

Hatch Act throughout these past two years we received a letter from the office of special counsel which is the

independent agency that enforces the Hatch Act as all of you know and it communicated uh it to us that their

opinion and issuing a warning but not taking further action as you all know by reading the letter and the reports the

White House council's office is reviewing their opinion and is going to respond to them so certainly not going

to get ahead of how the White House Council is going to respond or what's going to come out from from that action

so now if you if you look at the archived Trump White House website it contains about 2 000 nearly 2 000 uses

of Maga to describe policies and official agendas Congressional Republicans have also used Maga to refer

to policies and official agenda frequently for years now even clearly before we entered the administration and

what's more I also want to note that that the opinion that you see that was

presented by by osc happened just last week which is it occurred months after

the briefing where I made those comments so basically it is retroactive right the

actions were retroactive after I had made the comments so look

when uh basically what we're seeing by by me laying that out is that uh we did

not know their opinion uh when we were able to use uh to to when we when we

when we were given the green light to actually say uh the comments that I made so just want to make that very clear but

again look it's going to be reviewed uh that's what the White House Council was going to do they're going to have a a

dialogue a routine dialogue with uh ocosc and so I'll just leave it there

but it sounds like you disagree with the finding is that true no what I'm saying

is that this we've got this letter last week um and and it was retroactive right the

letters was retroactive what I the comments that I made was months prior and so we didn't know that was the

opinion months prior when it was said so what I will say now is that the White House Council is going to have a routine

dialogue like many administrations have in the past with osc and certainly not

going to get ahead of that I'm going to let that process move forward and just more broadly since you cite the

Hatch Act so often what is your interpretation of it what are your limitations so look what I know is as it

relates to an ongoing election right now right we're talking about 2024 we just

are very careful we are very careful to respect the law the rule of law we're very respectful respectful to not speak

as a federal employee to not speak about the election about candidates in the

election about anything that's related anything that you all ask me about the campaign I'm very often if not almost

every time refer you to the campaign as it relates to this specifically I just laid out if you look at the archives

from the Trump White House website it contains nearly 2 000 uses of Maga to describe policies and official agendas

right and Congressional republics have used that word multiple times to describe their policies and official

agenda as well I'm not going to get into any any back and forth about this I'm

going to let the White House counsel who has have their routine conversation with osc and let them handle it and just one

more on the Trump indictment which um I know you already spoke about but it's one thing to not answer questions

about the charges and the actual pending case before the doj but what about the

substance of these documents can you at least share whether President Biden has

been briefed on the substance but I will let my colleagues at the White House Council deal with that I'm just not

going to speak to it from this podium welcome to the briefing room thank you

Karine just a little bit of a clarification on the Trump indictment you have been clear that you don't want

to politicize the indictment but the president's opponents have accused him of weaponizing the doj so just to be

clear can you say categorically that President Biden was not involved or

influenced at all any of the decisions into indicting the president not at all he was not involved this is the

president has been very very clear the Department of Justice is independent he wants to restore the independence of of

the Department of Justice and that's what you've seen that is why we have been very very consistent when it comes

to criminal cases we just do not comment has the president been briefed on any

security concerns around the former presidents so I was asked this yesterday so was my colleague from NSC the Admiral

was asked this question when he was at the podium and we he he laid out right and I laid out he normally gets an

update from his National Security team and also his uh intelligence team on a

daily basis and that's usually where he gets his update I cannot speak beyond

that any additional requests for security I don't can't speak to anything

beyond any request all I can say is that we are prepared

is the assessment of the White House that inflation has finally peaked so

look um I know that you I know the CPI data came out today as I just laid out this morning look

um so what I what I will say is that we're making progress on fighting inflation uh

and that's good news that's good news for hard-working families that's incredibly important that we see that

and we're seeing that in this data and I kind of said this at the top but I'll reiterate it here annual inflation is at

the lowest that level that we have seen in more than two years that's since March of 2021 and it has fallen for 11

months and in less than half of what it was this past this past June to June

before this one clearly and wages has Rose over the last year so all of that is important gas prices is down by a

dollar 40 cents that's because of the work that this president has done if you think about his investment in America if

you think about his Economic Policy how he wants to make sure that we're building an economy that builds from the

bottom up middle out that is what you've seen and I have said and he has said many times when it comes to his Economic

Policy lowering cost is his number one priority so this is important we are fighting inflation we're seeing progress

and this is going to be incredibly important for Americans across the country

so um just to continue on inflation we'll do another one after that one of the components of the inflation here

that showed that rent prices are still sticky they're just not responding the way that you hope that they have

um it's starting to remind some people of the the comment that inflation was going to be transitory so for a long

time the expectation of spend that has in crisis and rental prices would come down and they just haven't are you

starting to get worried that they're not going to come down to what the implications are and what can you do so look we know and it's a good question we

know housing affordability is is a challenge for families and the good news

is that we are starting to see a cooling in housing in the housing market so that's incredibly important and also

that is why the president has taken extra steps right you've heard us over the last two years talk about the uh

talking about the housing Supply action plan that the president put forth to help close the housing Supply short

shortfall that we have seen in the last five years making it easier to use the American Rescue plan funds to increase

the supply of affordable housing which is another way that another part of the president's plan as it relates to

lowering costs when it comes to housing or dealing with the housing market releasing a blueprint for renters Bill

of Rights and a set of federal actions to make the rental market fairer and calling on Congress to provide

additional incentives for housing construction and support low-income families so look we get it we understand

what families are going through again the housing market is cooling so that's important but the president has taken

extra steps over the last two years to deal with to deal with the affordability aspect as it relates to housing so are

you considering additional action since the housing prices don't seem to be at this time so I don't have any additional

actions to announce at this time but I mean I just laid out four real constructive comprehensive substantive

actions that this president has taken over the last two years to deal with certainly issues that that American

families have to deal with when it comes to affordable housing and Ukraine a native Secretary General

jobberg just said that the Ukrainian counter offensive is making progress the

ukrainians are making progress and that's important in terms of strengthening their hands when they get

to the negotiating table does the White House share his view that the ukrainians are in fact making advances and can give

us any details so look I know that the president's linked to zielinski has spoken to this he says the counter

offenses operations have begun but certainly I'm going to leave that to Ukraine to speak to that's basically

what the president was asked when he was said pardon me when he was asked when it when it as it relates to the military

operations we're just going to let them president zielinski and his team speak to that and look what we can say is that

we we know that the Ukrainian people are brave and they are tough we have seen this the last 15 months they it they

have been incredibly impressive we have done everything that we can to make sure that they are successful and the

battlefield and that's not just us more than 50 countries have gone have come behind Ukraine and supported their

efforts their fight against Russia's aggression and to fight for their freedom and so we're going to continue

to do that we know that there are difficult challenges ahead but we feel that they are prepared I'm certainly not

going to get into military operations or what's going on on the battlefield again I'll let Ukraine speak to that okay

screen um I wonder do you believe that you violated the Hashtags with those comments about Magna Republicans

so what I can say is at the time I was given the sign off right to use that

terminology and uh and I said this just moments ago the letter that we received

was from last week we received that letter for something that I said months ago so it was retroactive if you will

I'm just not going to get into giving my opinion or thoughts I'm just going to lay out the facts for all of you you all

are going to report this and have reported it and we're going to have a routine conversation not not myself but

clearly the White House Council is going to have a routine conversation with osc to talk about this I'm just going to

leave that there's a term that that you but also the White House Press shop has used a lot in paper statements and

everything else so is are you guys going to continue to use that terminology going forward so look I'm not going to get ahead of what the outcome of this

might be they're the White House Council certainly is reviewing the opinion and they will have a routine conversation

with osc as they should this is going to be be an ongoing process as you stated

we have used this term many times before it's nothing new in the context and the

way we use it is in the context of talking about their policies and con in talking about their values that's how we

have used this term and so I will you know I'll leave it there and we'll we'll continue they'll continue to have a

conversation I know that the White House left the council's office sometimes conducts informational sessions with staff to educate them about the

hatchback what the guard rails are Etc when's the last time that you participated in one of those and you intend to get some kind of a refresher

so I don't have any uh any refresher to to speak to at this time but yes I've

sat in many many conversations that have been held by the Council on the Hatch

Act specifically I know I did one recently this this year I just don't have the exact date in mind and then

last question um I wonder as it relates to uh the case that the president the former president

Trump is facing is there any world in which President Biden would consider pardoning the former president I'm just

not going to speak to that no comment

Senator Bernie Sanders is saying that he won't move forward with the president's nominee for the National Institutes of

Health or any help nominees for that matter until the administration puts forward a plan to lower prescription

drug costs what is your reaction and there's the administration have been in contact with his office about this yeah

so look we see Senator Sanders as a as a friend and he has been certainly very uh

a partner very helpful to us in pushing the president's agenda and lowering costs for Americans and so we share the

we share Senator Sanders concerns on pricing that's why signing the president signing the inflation reduction Act was

so important that that was a critical component if you will of the inflation reduction act which is lowering costs

for Americans putting a cap on insulin for our seniors and so it was a

consequential piece of of that law and so look we are we're always looking for

ways to continue to lower costs for Americans and we look forward to working

with the senator to get to get our nominees forward and to and confirm

certainly but this is something that we agree with the senator on making sure

we're doing everything that we can to lower drug costs but again inflation reduction act incredibly important when

you're talking about Medicare being able uh to uh to to be able to lower cost and be given that that ability to do so

that's important insulin costs for our seniors capped at 30 but 35 bucks that's important and so uh clearly the

president and the senator on the same page on this and so we'll continue to have conversations with him

thanks green uh there are reports that the Labor Management have agreed to a cooling off period of the West Coast ports after a meeting with acting

secretary Sue I'm wondering if you can confirm that development and if you're encouraged by the White House so a

couple of things I want to give an update I know I was asked about this I believe at the end of last week so as you know we're monitoring this very

closely we know that the parties in the negotiation have overcome some sticky points already and are continued to

address the most difficult issues right now and so we're encouraging all parties to certainly uh to to continue in to

work in good faith and and do that in a certainly in a mutually beneficial

resolution to ensure that workers get their Fair benefits quality of life and wages that they deserve that's why the

acting secretary Julie Sue is currently on the west coast meeting with all parties encouraging them to reach a

resolution and so she has invaluable expertise working closely with these parties as the former California

Secretary of Labor and as Department of Secretary of Labor certainly am not going to get ahead of conversations and

where they are currently but we're going to continue to for in good faith for parties to stay at the table and have

the conversation so that the workers can certainly get a a fair certainly Fair

benefits and a better outcome said he's opposing Jared Bernstein's nomination to

lead the cea do you have a response to that and is the White House concerned that would endanger his chances of

information so I can't say it better than nearly every living Economist who

led the ca under under uh Republican Administration and this is the quote Dr

Bernstein has been a respected voice in Economic Policy circles for decades he

has the establish he has established a reputation for producing informative data-driven analysis and developing

creative policy ideas end quote so we look forward for Jared's Swift confirmation and this again this is

coming from Republican administrations the quote that I just laid out and so we are going to continue to work to get

Jared confirmed yeah thanks thanks great um so we have four percent inflation uh on CPI

inflation overall uh that's on top of the other inflation increases that we've seen for the past 26 months or so

there's been no overall price reductions what's the president's plan to reduce prices for all Americans not just a

certain category of people that fit certain criteria I think everything that the president has done all of his

economic policies and you think about these historic legislation that's for all Americans that's to make sure that

uh we we continue to lower costs whether it's health care whether it's energy

whether it's uh you know not just that but also creating good paying jobs that's to make sure that we build an

economy that doesn't leave anybody behind that's why when we say from the bottom up middle out that's not trickle

down that's not a trickle-down approach that we have seen many many for many decades that's a different approach so

that we do include all Americans we include hard-working Working Families

that again have been left behind and so the president is a president for people

living in red States and blue States for all Americans he has said that he has been very very clear about that he knows

what he is supposed to do and how he is supposed to lead this country and that's

what he's been doing but since the president took off his real wages are down 3.4 percent inflation is up so how

does that not amount I just laid out one of your colleagues asked me about inflation I just said one

thing is that we're making progress we are fighting inflate inflation if you look at the last 11 months it has fallen

it has fallen and and is is less than half of what it was this past June the

June clearly before this month and so that is important we're seeing progress we're seeing the cost we're seeing

lowering costs I just talked about eggs how much it fell and over 30 13 additional 13 that's important for

everyday Americans and so look we're going to continue to do the work we understand the work continues we

understand that Americans are still hurting but the president has always put lowering costs at the center at the top

I should say when it comes to his economic policy and that's what you're going to continue to see okay Sebastian

uh one on NATO Sweden Sweden yesterday said it was

going to extradite a guy that turkey once he's he's got links to the pkk he's

done other things um so does the administration see perhaps I was about to say for the

administration you know a

resolution of this dispute between turkey and Sweden maybe in time for the summit so a couple of things so Sweden

has fulfilled its commitments they made under the trilateral memorandum of

agreement agreed with Finland and turkey on the margins of the NATO Summit and they did that in Madrid just this past

year or last year in 2022 this includes Sweden's recent passage of enhanced

encounter terrorism legislation so look Sweden is a strong capable defense

partner that shares NATO's values and will strengthen the alliance and contribute to the European security so

we believe and you've heard from this President multiple times that we believe Sweden should become a NATO member as

soon as possible that is what the president has said he has shown his support that is what we've seen from Congress as well and so look we're going

to continue to stay steadfast uh look we're going to continue to be

hopeful as you know this is a president that's incredibly hopeful and positive about these things and so we believe

that again they are strong capable uh defense partner that that share the the values of the NATO the NATO alliance and

so I think that's important and a very quick Trump on if I might not not a legal one um the president as the president uh is

president for everybody obviously and uh he's gonna be running for re-election I see the votes from everybody

um uh you you've got you've got somebody who is leading a movement which is

almost based on saying that every single thing that is happening now in this Administration is illegal and

literally I mean they say Communists are taking over the country Etc you can make a long list of things they're saying

very extreme things so what is the president's message to all of those people who are actually Americans and

you know you would like to vote for him presumably um and are being you know that there's a

surely a message to you well what's his message well I just took a couple of questions from your colleagues about the Hatch Act in 2024 so I'm going to follow

and follow the law and be very careful and not talk about the Hatch Act and we're going to respect it and do and do

everything that we can to do that what I will say more broadly and I'm going back to when the president ran in 2020 and

what he ran on right he ran on bringing the country together he ran on fighting for the soul of the nation and that's

what the president has been doing for the last two years he believes that that is important to bring everybody together as you just stated in your question he's

a president for everyone red state blue state it doesn't matter he understand what it means he was vice president

right he was he's been a senator so he understands what that that means what it means to be a president of these United

States so it's very important that he continues to do that continue to bring the country together you've heard him

talk about this really make critical important speeches on this very point

and so he that's going to be continue to be his message bringing the country together you hear him talk about

possibilities you hear him talk about the future of this country and how we need to continue to to live up to our

greatness and so that's what you're going to hear that's going to be the message to this to to the American people that has not changed and so I'll

leave it there would the president ever accept spending

levels lower than those included in the debt ceiling agreement and how does he

respond to a criticism that other Democrats have communicated that speaker Kevin McCarthy is now sort of renegging

on the deal by communicating in his words you always have to remember with appropriation levels that's your cap you

can always do less so look I'm not going to get ahead of the Appropriations process us I we expect Congress to

certainly to abide by the bipartisan budget agreement that we came both sides

came to the table for a and that's including the agreed uh two adjustments

so certainly not going to get ahead of that uh we made a deal and we will

uphold our end of this deal and so they need to uphold theirs and so I'll just leave it there it's it's just as simple

as that that is what this agreement was all about that is what the president signed into law it's about the American

people it's about delivering for uh for their needs it's about making sure that we have a budget that's fiscally

responsible that's what we were able to do in a bipartisan way and so we are going to uphold our part and we expect

them to do the same the president just met with John stoltenberg and the Oval Office did the president end their visit

today or was he expected to perhaps you weren't in there for the entire time task on stoltenberg to stay on past the

expiration of his term this October so look the president uh hasn't made any decision yet on on that process I'm

certainly not going to get ahead of the president on this but we've been very clear that we believe the Secretary

General has done a fantastic job a really wonderful job during this difficult time this history making time

with the war in Ukraine being one of them and how NATO has come together in a

way that we haven't seen in a very long time the strength of NATO and so we appreciate his efforts and his hard work

the last two years I'm just certainly not just not going to get ahead of the president reporting right out of the CIA warned the Ukrainian government not to

attack the Nordstrom gas pipelines last summer after obtained detailed information about Ukrainian plot to

destroy that main pipeline between Russia and Europe right now I'm not

asking you to confirm that specifically but has President Biden as he said it was previously that he spoke directly to

Vladimir zolenski the Vladimir zielinski and told him that the f-1600 was reassured that zoleski would never use

the f-16s to Target anything inside Russian Geographic territory as the

president didn't ever communicated to Vladimir zielinski that he expected ukrainians at no time to Target anything

with any weapons beams inside Russian Geographic territory so the president

has been really clear it he spoke to this before Jake has spoken to this the admiral has spoken to this not well the

look I can't confirm anything about the pipeline that is not something that I can do that is territory that is that is

something that the CIA certainly I would refer you to them I'm not uh speak to any communication that may or may have

not happened so I'm just going to be really clear but more broadly we've been very clear about uh about how we see uh

you know this the use of of uh weapons that should be used within Ukraine and

certainly not in Russia we've been very clear about that but as it relates to the pipeline I just can't speak to that

that is something the designer the Felix Phoenix Mercury come to DC this Friday what plans does the president or vice

president or first lady or whomever have to meet with her or host here here White House I don't have any I don't have

anything to preview at this time on any any meeting uh I don't have anything for you as you

know and I think we reported this out uh the white during the White House Correspondence Dinner the president and

we did report this out uh met with uh had a had a a side conversation with Brittany and Charelle uh it was uh it

was a uh an important moment between uh between between the families because the

first lady was there I just don't have anything beyond that to share about a uh a meeting with Brittany Got Annie thanks

so much um uh Jared Bernstein there's a following up on my college question about Eric Bernstein the vote is

occurring now in the Senate um just curious you know if the vice president was on standby to

um break a potential tie and that and that vote and also if you could just sort of speak more broadly given you

know the kind things that economists have said about him why you think it's it's so such a nail biter right now you

know I you would have to to speak to uh the you know the respective senator

orders on that I can't speak for them and and why that is we know that Jared

and I mentioned this yesterday he has worked for this President certainly for the last two years he has worked for the

president when he was vice president he is well respected amongst economists amongst this President and we're going

to continue to do everything that we can to make sure he gets confirmed he's been to this briefing room many times before

so you know how uh how well-verse he is in the economy as an economist I just

don't have anything to share on what Senators why senators or decision or how they're going to move forward that's for

them to speak to her I actually don't know her schedule for today so I can't

speak to that I would refer you to her uh to her office on the on the inflation numbers um the FED has long set a goal of two

percent inflation as where they would like to see the economy working and I'm curious there's been to

be about whether that's a reasonable goal and whether that's the right place for inflation to want to end up can you

say where you leave the White House things inflation should be like where what is the percentage that the White

House Sees at a healthy and healthy economy so I'm I'm not going I know you

mentioned the FED gonna be very careful not going to comment on any monetary policies that the FED makes they are an

independent agency so we are incredibly mindful of that and we are incredibly

respectful of that as far as inflation where it needs to be I'm just not that's

something that certainly The Economist can speak to I'm just not going to speak to that from here at this time

thanks again just want to clarify your answer on the Hatch Act so until the White House counsel's Office makes its

opinion we expect not to hear you use Maga from the podium I've been very

clear I don't have anything to add you well you should have decided that you're waiting for them to make their opinions okay

on the exposure incident on South lawn uh having received the statement that

the White House believes that was an appropriate disrespectful is there going to be a greater effort in the future to communicate a code of conduct for white

house guests look we've as you mentioned the statement uh that we put out you

heard from us earlier today the the behavior was simply unacceptable we've been very clear about that it was unfair

to the hundreds of attendees who were there to celebrate their families

so you know we're going to continue to be clear on that and that type of

behavior is as I said unacceptable it's not appropriate it's disrespectful and let's not it really does not reflect the

event that we hosted to celebrate the lgbtq plus families again hundreds of

families who were here to celebrate their community and who are here in attendance so look individuals in the

video certainly will not be invited to future events and this is has not

occurred before right this is not this was not a normal thing that has happened under this Administration but we've been

very clear about how how we saw this particular Behavior has been some criticism also of the

White House the flag placement the pride flag violating the U.S flag code did anybody notice that or fail to notice

that or was it a intentional statement you just explain what happened so the administration was

proud again to display the pride flag it was a historic event at the White House

it's centered around the love around love and family and I think that's important and so you know we're not

going to to let anyone distract us from that what was the meaning of the day what was a the meaning of having

families here and to celebrate a community I'm certainly not going to get into protocols from here or I'll leave

that to others and so uh you know we're proud of this historic event that we were able to put together here on the

south lawn for our families and so I'll leave it there be on a different subject Senator Chuck

Grassley made some statements yesterday on the senate floor saying that this foreign National on the

FBI 1023 form apparently has 15 recorded conversations with Hunter Biden and claims to have two with the president is

there is the White House aware of any recordings in which the president might be on tape speaking to a barisma

executive so the president spoke to this I think he was shouted a question about this at the Thursday press conference

and I'm just going to quote him and say it's Malarkey okay okay thank you uh

Chris was the first lady mistaken in discussing the Trump indictment at a fundraiser and has anyone at the White

House perhaps in the council's office talked to her about the propriety of such statements I don't have anything to add to what I just shared with your

colleague good Brian just two hours ago former president Trump when he was on his way to Miami uh

tweeted about the classified documents found in the in Biden's Penn Biden Center office what is the president's

response when President Trump former president Trump brings up to the classified doctors found in town I'm

just not going to comment good good thank you the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month said that

when they released their threat list that lgbtq plus events were under

heightened threat given the rhetoric that we're seeing across the country um I haven't heard you in the last

couple weeks talk about the president being where you've done that given that there's so many different Pride celebrations happening across the

country right now um can you talk a little bit about the security surrounding that and if there's anything elevated at least coming from

the federal government so I can't speak to anything that's been elevated clearly um

you know if there is any need for additional security we are certainly

always available to have that conversation with state and local officials as you mentioned as Pride

events are occurring throughout this month across the country I can't speak to if there have been any elevated

instances that has uh that has uh right that's uh that's been flagged for us at

the federal level but certainly this is something that uh that we believe that

it's important for lgbtq plus Community to feel safe as they are celebrating during pride month which is one of the

reasons why we had an event a historic event right here on the south lawn on Saturday just don't have anything

additional to add to any elevated security or elevated additional

assistance that we may be providing you know an acting labor secretary Julie sue her nomination for the job permanently

do you have any update there were five Senators left to check that were undecided no vote scheduled yet

um do you have an update on where you are on that in terms of getting her confirmed the position permanently given

you've been without a labor secretary permanently for a while now so just a couple of things I do want to give an

example of what we've been doing to assist in Julie Sue's confirmation so

each Night senator senior White House officials join a war room call to ensure We are continuing to make progress on

Sue's nomination this call continued throughout the negotiation over the budget agreement so very recently

outside groups forcefully and vocally made the case for Sue's nomination including 55 labor unions which joined

together recently on a call on Senators to support Sue's confirmation in recent

days top White House and administration officials have launched a full court press and aging Senators whose vote will

be key to Sue's nomination as well as house members who can help build support and I can give you example Chief the

chief of staff of Jeff science and director of ledge Affairs Luisa Terrell have been speaking regularly with leader

Schumer on the tsunamination as well as other key Senators multiple times a week this continued like I said during the

debt limit fight and so they're also in touch with other groups outside groups as well so we have taken this very

seriously we are want to make sure that she gets confirmed and we feel very confident that she will be that's going

to continue going around sitting outside there

just hours ago Senator tuberville tweeted quote having biological males in

women's sports is unsafe unfair in Rome and earlier this year several 72 Elite

female athletes sign an open letter saying forcing female athletes to compete against biological males is not

only unfair it is discriminatory and illegal so in the line of this administration's proposal changes to

Title IX does the White House worry about the physical safety of females directly competing against males in

sports so look this is a complicated issue it is and there are a wide range of views

as you just laid out the Department of Education proposed a rule that gives schools the flexibility to establish

their own athletic policies while establishing guard rails to prevent discrimination against transgender kids

and so I also want to make clear that this is a proposed Rule and members of

the public have the ability to provide comment as part of the rulemaking process and so any you know any

additional questions that you may have of this proposed rule certainly I would refer you to the Department of Education but we do understand this is a

complicated issue what would the president say to parents out there who have daughters let's say in high school

for example who are worried that their daughter may have to compete against a male or a person born male and then

there could be directly in physical athletic competition and worry about their daughter's safety so look uh I'm

what you're alluding to is basically saying that transgender kids are dangerous it sounds like that's what

you're saying well you're saying you're saying that their safety is that isn't is is at risk

yeah but you're you're laying out a broad kind of broad example or

explanation of what could potentially happening a broad a broad example explained that is dangerous that is a

dangerous thing to say that essentially transgender kids we're talking about are

dangerous and so that's something that I have to call out and that is that is that is that is irresponsible I had just

laid out how complicated this issue is I had just laid out why it's complicated and so anything that you have any

additional questions I refer to the Department of Education I'm going to move on I know there are other people go ahead Tam God damn no I mean you could

read your question in a transcript once you get it go ahead Pam um Senator JD Vance is saying that he is

going to hold all future nominations from the Biden department for the Biden Department of Justice so all nominees to

doj other than the US Marshals service um does the White House have a response to that

um and do you know how many num I don't have a response to that I know

that we will continue to work with Congress senators and specifically on getting our nominations through it is

important to the president it is important to the American people I have not really talked to the team about this

particular Sanders Senator JD Vance so I just don't have anything to share we are committed we are very much committed in

getting our nominees through [Music] thank you um I'm just wondering because

the the event that is about to take place in in South Florida that some folks may be paying attention to uh no

one is actually going to see that other than the people who are in the courtroom there's not going to be still photographers uh my and so I'm just

wondering where the president stands currently on cameras in federal courtrooms and photography that is up to

the federal court I'm just not going to speak tonight I'll see you guys tomorrow thank you everybody