Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre 6/18/24

All right. Good afternoon everyone.

Hello.

Good afternoon.

Hello.

Hello.

Weijia, hello. Okay, I have a couple of things at the top and then we’ll get going. So as you all know, this afternoon, president Biden, the First Lady, will host an event to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA. Over the last 12 years, DACA has provided more than 800,000 Dreamers with the ability to work lawfully, pursue an education, open businesses, and contribute their enormous talents to make our communities better and stronger. While Congress has failed to act on the reforms President Biden presented on his first day of his presidency, the Biden-Harris administration vigorously defended DACA in court an extended Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients. Now later today, less than an hour today, President Biden will announce that the Department of Homeland Security will take action designed to help us citizens with non-citizen spouses keep their families together.

(01:17)
This new process will help certain non-citizen spouses and children apply for a lawful permanent residency, a status they are already eligible for without having to leave the country. Additionally, President Biden will announce that the administration will facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other dreamers. Think about the stability this will bring to so many American families across the country. These measures will help keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy and our country. The Biden-Harris administration is committed to taking action within its authorities to secure our border and ensure that our immigration system is more fair and more. just. As you all remember, two weeks ago, President Biden announced additional actions to secure our southern border after congressional Republicans twice, twice voted against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades.

(02:22)
And while we are still in the early phase of implementation, encounters in between ports of entry are down and repatriations are up. However, we know that only Congress can deliver the additional personnel, resources, and policy changes needed to secure our border. And only Congress can deliver the comprehensive reform of our immigration and asylum laws that is needed to secure our border and make our immigration system work. We’ll continue to call on lawmakers to do just that. Next, I also wanted to quickly address the extreme heat wave that we are seeing across the country. We know that extreme heat can be dangerous, which is especially true for older adults and people with underlying health conditions. We encourage everyone experiencing extreme temperatures this week to check in on their neighbors, drink plenty of water, and look for cooling centers if needed. Stay alert, listen to local officials and weather alerts and visit heat.gov for more information on how to stay safe.

(03:36)
And finally, this week through Thursday, June 27th, our administration will amplify the president’s and vice president’s work to lower costs for hardworking Americans. The cabinet and senior White House officials will travel across the country to discuss the Biden-Harris lowering costs agenda. From healthcare and housing to gas prices and groceries, we will lay out the full scope of the Biden-Harris lowering cost agenda in new products and speeches and make clear that congressional Republicans are putting the wealthy and the big corporations first with an agenda to raise costs for hardworking families. You all should have a full list of events through next Thursday in your inbox, and I know you all will look forward to those events across the country. With that, Jeremy, it has been a long time.

Jeremy?

Jeremy. Josh.

It has been a long time, too long.

It has been too long. I forgot your name.

It’s okay.

No, no. You know I love you Josh. It has indeed been a long time. I was thinking about my journey in the back, so as I was… Anyway, whatever.

I’ll take it.

Things are happening. It’s good to see you. It’s good to see you.

Good to see you. Two subjects.

Yes.

First on immigration today, is the administration confident that US Citizenship and Immigration Services can handle possibly hundreds of thousands of new applications given the current backlog of other immigration applications.

So look, we have always said, and I said this at the top, the way that we would love to move forward is in a more balanced approach, obviously, and get that bipartisanship from Congress. The first day of his administration, as I’ve already stated, and I’ve stated this many times, we wanted to see a comprehensive immigration process, a legislation. That’s what the president put forward. He wanted to see that. Congress never moved. And when they did decide to move on something, we worked in a bipartisan way. The former president told Republicans and Congress, Republican senators more specifically, and told them, “Don’t move on this. Don’t move on this because it’s going to hurt me and help Joe Biden.” And we had a bipartisan approach which would’ve made the immigration system more fair and tougher, and we didn’t move in that way. And so the President has said that he’s going to take actions. He’s going to take actions to secure the border as he did with the executive order that he signed just about two weeks ago or so, and that he also wants to make sure we keep American families together.

(06:11)
So look, we’re obviously going to hear from the president later today, and we believe that we can get this done. We believe it’s important, a part of the President’s immigration policy, and keeping American families together, making sure that we are protecting American families is a priority for this president, and so we believe that this could move forward.

Gotcha. Secondly, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who said he told Secretary of State Lincoln, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons in the ammunition for Israel.” There was a shipment of bombs paused in early May at the start of the Rafah Offensive, but has the administration been withholding weapons and ammunitions for months like seems to be saying?

So let me just start off by saying that we generally do not know what he’s talking about. We just don’t. A couple of things that I do want to add, and you’re right, there was one particular shipment of munitions that was paused, and you’ve heard us talk about that many times. We continue, we continue to have these constructive discussions with Israelis for the release of that particular shipment that I just mentioned, and don’t have any updates on that. There are no other pauses, none, no other pauses or holds in place. And so as Secretary Blinken said today, he took some questions from some of your colleagues and talked, spoke to the press, obviously. Everything else is moving in due process. That is coming from Secretary Blinken. You heard directly from him earlier today. [inaudible 00:07:58]

Thanks, Karine. So just to confirm, only the shipment of those 2000 pound bombs have been withheld?

Yes.

Got it.

That’s to confirm it, yes.

And when it comes to the new executive actions today on immigration, can you just talk us through why now? Why not earlier?

So look, and I said this a little bit and I’ll say it again, which is, and we say this, our immigration system is broken. It has been for some decades. The president wants to have a comprehensive legislative fix. That’s the process that we actually want to take, and that’s why he did on day one. And so look, we want to see a balanced approach. We want to see a bipartisan movement on this, but Congress has failed to act. They just voted twice on a proposal legislation that they, Republicans and Democrats, came together on to move forward on dealing with what’s happening, the challenges at the border, what’s happening with immigration. Republicans rejected it. They rejected it twice. And so announcing these actions to keep families together, we’re talking about American citizens and their families, to keep them together. We’re talking about young people who contribute. They are contributing to the economy, they’re contributing to their communities. We want to make sure we keep that talent here. And so that is why we’re taking this action.

(09:17)
We can do both. We can secure the border, as we did with announcing the executive order, and we could also protect American families. And that’s what the president’s going to be going to be announcing today.

Walk us through how the administration decided the contours of this. For instance, it is 10 years, but if someone’s been married for… You have to be in the country for at least 10 years, but if you’ve been in the country-

Yeah, at least decade.

… for just slightly less than that, they would not eventually be eligible, right?

That is correct. Anybody who is… And then the other added piece of this is anybody who is presenting themselves today would not be eligible as well. And it is a decade. You have to be here for at least a decade to be able to be, obviously to take part of this announcement that the president is making. And here’s the thing, the average person who would be eligible for this, we are predicting, have been here for about 23 years, 23 years.

But what do you say to those families who have a member who’s been here for like nine years and 11 months?

No, I hear you.

So they’ll never have a chance?

Look, the way to actually deal with this is to have a comprehensive immigration legislation, is for Congress to do their jobs and to move forward. And what we have seen as Republicans getting in the way because of what the last president said. And that is the way that we want to see this moving. We have said… I’ve said this many times, we wanted to move in a balanced approach, a balanced approach. And that’s how we had seen this process. That’s going to be part of this announcement obviously. But Congress, they have to fix this. In order to actually fix this broken immigration system, congress has to act. And we are going to do everything that we can to move forward in a way where we are obviously protecting American families, and also dealing with the challenges at the border, trying to fix a broken immigration or deal with a broken immigration system that’s been broken for decades.

(11:24)
And this is one process that one announcement that we’re moving forward with. And the president is always going to look for other ways to deal with this broken immigration system. But honestly, Congress has to act. They have to act. Yeah, Weijia.

Do you have any details about the timeframe and when people can actually start applying for this program?

So don’t have anything to share on the actual timeline on this. We want to make sure, again, that our border is secure. We want to make sure… We want to make sure that this immigration system is more fair, more just. I don’t have anything on the timeline. I’m sure DHS may have more on that specific question that you have.

And then just following up on Selena, given the amount of time it’s going to take to process the applications, given the fact that it could all be undone if there’s a new administration, am I hearing the reason why the president didn’t do this sooner is because he thought Congress would do it? Is that why?

Well, what I’m saying is that, as you know, we worked really hard to protect DACA. We put out a comprehensive immigration system. DACA was part of that. Fixing what’s happening and securing the border obviously was part of that. Fixing an immigration policy that’s been broken for decades obviously was part of that. That’s why it was comprehensive. The president has been focused on this since day one and worked with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to try to figure out how do we move forward with a policy that’s fair and just. And

We believe it is still the way to go is to do this through Congress, to do this in a legislative way. And so, the president is always going to look … And you hear us say this often, the president’s going to look for different ways to move forward on dealing with this broken system that we have. We’re always going to find ways. Two weeks ago, we made an announcement and he signed an EO on securing the border. We did that, but we’ve taken more actions than that before, leading up to that EO. And today, we’re making this announcement on protecting American families.

(13:35)
So, look, we would rather see Congress act, that’s what we want to see, and do it in a comprehensive way. They should take a look at the legislation that we put forward on day one or go back to their bipartisan proposal that they put forward. So, there are ways to do this. And the president said he will always look at different options, and this is one of them.

How do you respond to Republicans who say this particular move is just an election year stunt?

Look, I’m not here to talk about election year. That’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to talk about the president’s policy and why he’s doing this, because we have a broken immigration system. The president did this on his first day when he put forth that comprehensive immigration system. For about two months or so, coming out of last year, going into early this year, the president worked, his team, he directed his team to work with Congress on getting done a bipartisan proposal to deal with immigration. And we were able to do that. We were able to do that with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. And Republicans rejected it. They rejected it, because of what they were told by the former president.

(14:45)
That’s politics. That’s putting partisan first, right? That’s partisanship. That’s politics. That is doing something on behalf of someone who is currently a candidate for 2024. We have been saying since day one, we want to figure out how to fix this broken system.

Thank you.

Okay. JJ.

On the deficit, the Congressional Budget Office just came out with its new numbers. It’s saying that the US budget deficit will reach 1.92 trillion in 2024, up from 1.69 trillion in 2023. Anything you can share in reaction?

So, as you just stated to me, JJ, it just came out, so obviously I haven’t seen it yet. I need to talk to our folks. A couple of things I do want to say is that this president has a strong agenda and to reduce the deficit, you hear him talk about this very often, instead of blowing it up again by extending the Trump tax cuts, which would cost $5 trillion, $5 trillion. While the last administration increased the debt by a record $8 trillion and didn’t sign a single law to reduce the deficit. And what we have done, what this president has done, he has signed legislation to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion since taking office. That’s what he’s been able to do.

(15:58)
So, moreover, this budget would lower the deficit another $3 trillion by making the wealth and large corporation pay their fair share, closing tax loopholes, cutting wasteful spending on big pharma, big oil and other special interests. And it is the opposite of what congressional Republicans are trying to do when they are trying to give tax cuts to billionaires and corporations, which will hurt the middle class, which will hurt the working class. And so, that is not what the president wants to do. We cannot afford that. And so, the president’s going to continue to work to do everything that he can to do the right thing when it comes to lowering the deficit. Again, I haven’t seen this report, so I can’t say much, but I can speak to what the president has tried to do more broadly. Okay.

Thanks, Karine. A question about Russian President Putin’s visit to North Korea and his words today about supporting North Korea against the enemy, which he identified as the United States. What’s the White House’s response to that? And to what extent are you concerned or more concerned now after what he said about what Russia might do?

So, just a couple of things. I know that he is in the DPRK today and that he’s going to go to Hanoi in the upcoming weeks. My NSC colleague spoke to this just a little bit yesterday. So, deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK is a trend that should be of great concern to anyone interested in maintaining peace and stability in the Korean peninsula, upholding the global non- proliferation regime, abiding by the UN Security Council Resolutions, and supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and their independence against Russia’s aggression and obviously, Russia’s invasion.

(17:43)
This is something we have been warning about for some time as DPRK’s provision of weapons to Russia has helped enable Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. So, we noted that Putin and Xi joint statement last month called for all sides to reaffirm that political and diplomatic means as the only way to resolve issues on the Korean peninsula. We hope this is a message that Putin will convey to Kim in their discussion. As we have said before, we don’t believe any country should give Mr. Putin a platform to promote the war of aggression that we are obviously currently seeing in Ukraine. And Russia, we believe, is blatantly violating the UN Charter and working to undermine the international system. And so, this is something, obviously, that we’re watching very closely and we continue to do so.

And what about going the other way? What concerns does the White House have about support that Russia may provide to North Korea?

I mean, look, that is obviously something that we are concerned with as well. It goes both sides, both ways. Obviously, with Putin, we are seeing this invasion in Ukraine. And so, any collaboration in helping Mr. Putin do this, is something that we are again, deeply, deeply concerned about.

One follow up, lastly, on the question of timing for the immigration move today, can you just give us a sense of-

We have an emergency.

Yeah. Sorry.

Oh, hold on. Did somebody pass out?

Yes. Let me get-

Okay. Can we get-

Yep. Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thanks. Thanks. Okay. Sorry about that. Hopefully she’s okay.

It is stuffy in here.

You are-

[inaudible 00:19:28] aircon.

There’s your heat effect, right there.

Yeah. I know. You are correct. It is hot in here.

I was just asking a follow-up question.

Yes.

If we’re all okay.

I think we’re okay. I think we’re okay to move on. And does anybody need water? We’re good? Do you want

Scotch, perhaps.

Okay. That’s a whole nother place. Not here.

It used to be standard, I think.

Oh, oh, really? Okay. Okay. Go ahead. I’m sorry.

No, not at all. Thanks for helping. With regard to the timing of-

[inaudible 00:20:01].

… the president’s decision today.

Oh wait, hold on one second. Hold on. I think they got it. Okay. Okay. Timing on immigration.

Yes. Could you just give us a sense-

The announcement.

Yes, exactly. Could you just give us a sense of the discussions that led to doing this? Whose idea was it? Why now? I mean, you’ve already answered why now, but just how did it come to this?

So, look, I certainly am not going to speak to private discussions that are had at the White House. What I can speak to, and very much how I answered the question moments ago. Look, the president has always said he wants to do everything that he can to deal with this broken immigration system, any immigration policies as well. You heard us talk about DACA. That’s something that happened back in 2012 when it was Obama-Biden administration. And how we, from the beginning of this administration, we’ve tried to protect and fight for DACA and we continue to do so, right?

(21:03)
So, there is a history, if you will, about the president wanting to protect American families, wanting to protect American citizens. And this is what you see in this announcement. And making sure that people who have been here … I said on the average, there’s some folks who’ve been here for 23 years, 23 years. And separating them is kind of a cruel thing to do. Right? And these are people who have contributed to our economy, contributed to communities across the country. And this is very different than what we saw from the last administration. The last administration literally separated families, babies from their parents, from their fathers, from their mothers. And it was cruel.

(21:56)
In this administration, we are working to get those families reunited. And so, we want to make sure that we’re securing the border. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to do that. And we also want to make sure that we have a fair and just system. And that is something that the president continues to live by. And that’s what this announcement is all about today. Okay, MJ.

Miss Karine, can you offer an updated readout of Amos Hochstein’s talks in Beirut? And what is the president’s level of concern about there being a serious escalation that erupts between Israel and Lebanon? Or, does he think we’re already there?

Yeah. So, a couple of things on that. As you know Amos is … Amos. Amos. I’m having problems with names today. Amos is in Lebanon today. And so, it is important discussions that he is having. And part of those discussions, obviously, is restoring calm along the Blue Line, which remains a top priority for the United States and must be the utmost importance for both Lebanon and Israel. And that’s what you’re seeing, obviously, Amos take part of while he’s in the region.

(23:08)
We have been concerned by the increase in violence, to your question, MJ, including the firing of more than 200 rockets by Hezbollah at Israel this past week. And so, we are going to continue to work hard toward a diplomatic resolution that would allow Israel and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes and live in peace and security. And so, though that conversation about the Blue Line obviously remains a top priority for us, I don’t have any readout. I know Amos had an opportunity to talk to the press earlier today while he was in Lebanon, but I just don’t have anything beyond that.

Does he, the president, think the recent events amount to a serious escalation in this situation?

Look, what you’re seeing is the president’s efforts to avoid further escalation, right? One of the reasons Amos is there, and he met with Israeli officials yesterday and he’s going to continue during his trip to meet with Lebanese government. And so, that’s what he’s doing today. And so, we’ll continue efforts to secure a deal that would lead to a durable end of the war in Gaza. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to make sure we get this hostage deal, working very hard in a diplomatic way. You saw Secretary Blinken in the region just last week. And we want to lower tensions. We believe this hostage deal will play part in lowering the tensions. And so, you heard that from the president’s remarks when he laid out what that hostage deal was not too long ago. And so, we do not want to see an escalation.

And then just on the stretch of days that the president will be spending at Camp David, how much of that time will be devoted to debate prep? And just what have you observed the president do in recent days in terms of preparing for the debate? Have you seen him going back to watch previous debates between the president and the former president or anything like that?

So, as it relates to debate prep, that is squarely in the camp of the campaign. So, I have to keep that there and I’m not going to speak in details about that. And so, what I will say is that while the president is at Camp David and Rehoboth, he certainly will be able to stay up-to-date on what’s going on, to get updates from his senior advisors, from his team. As we say, many times, the president could be president anywhere. We have the infrastructure to do just that. I don’t have anything specific on how his time is being divided, but I can tell you this, the president’s going to continue to stay squarely focused on his duty as president of the United States.

Thanks, Karine.

Okay. Karen.

For today, in the policy, the immigration policy, has the

… President met with any families that would be impacted, that could benefit from what he’s going to announce today? Has he been moved personally by any stories that then led him to take action?

So that’s a really good question. I don’t have any families, particular specifically American families whose spouse is going to benefit from this, so don’t have any readouts to speak of. Obviously, we have heard you all have done a really good job of covering scenarios and situations like this, families who have been pulled apart. So we are obviously acutely aware of how that could affect… being pulled apart from your family can affect not just a family but also a community. So we are obviously aware of that. The president has met DACA recipients obviously as well, who in a different way, have been affected by being DREAMers here. And obviously, I talked about what they were able to do back in 2012.

(26:59)
And just to be very clear, what we’re talking about is not part of DACA. Obviously, we’re doing this around the anniversary of DACA, but this announcement will not affect DACA recipients. But that story is the same, right? The story of coming here for a better life and searching for the American dream is very similar and the president’s going to continue to make sure that we fight to protect American families and certainly to keep them together.

Will there be an audience today for the remarks? Anybody there that will be impacted by this?

So there will be more than 200 people in the audience today. I don’t have a list of particular people who will be affected by this. If we do, we certainly will share that with all of you as we normally do. I just don’t have anything at this moment at this time. Go ahead, Kelly O.

So as you were indicating, when the president’s at Camp David, he’s still present. Do you intend to brief during the time that he is away?

We don’t typically do traditional press briefings when the president is away, so we do not have a scheduled formal briefing to speak of. But obviously, we will continue, the press team and with our policy folks as needed will continue to hold briefing calls when appropriate to preview upcoming events, upcoming announcement. That is something that we will do. And obviously, if you all have any questions, we will be here to answer any of those questions.

We would request that you would brief because it’s working days, even if the president is away.

You guys want to continue seeing me?

We want to see you, yes.

All right.

It’s several days. On the issue of immigration, do you view today’s executive order as a counterweight to the asylum measure that the president signed?

I wouldn’t look at it that way. I really wouldn’t. I think, and this is what I’ve been trying to say while I’ve been up here, it’s like this system is broken. More broadly, it is a broken system, right? We’re seeing the challenges at the border. We’re seeing immigration policy that has not been revamped for some time and the president wants to address that and we can do the EO and deal with the border security and secure the border in that way, and also make sure that American families are not broken up. Right? Make sure that people who have been contributing to our economy, to communities have an opportunity here. And so I think we’re trying to really deal with a broad stroke of issues here, and that’s what you’re seeing this president do.

And how does he find the balance between wanting to, as you describe it, keep American families together to select people who’ve been in the country for a longer period of time, and then balance the fact that they would get some benefits that other immigrants would not get and have reduced penalties and that kind of thing? How does he make that balance?

Well, so say a little bit more?

Well, without this kind of a program, people would have to leave the country, they would have a longer period of time for getting a Green Card, those sorts of things. So how does he find that balance between something that is giving a benefit to people who at one point broke the rules?

Look, here’s the thing. The eligible population is limited, so we have to remember that. And individuals who arrived now are not eligible. Right? So we did try to give this a scope, if you will, and we can’t forget, those who are eligible have been here for 23 years, in the US for 23 years. And that spouse obviously is married to someone who’s an American citizen and they probably have children here, some of them, right? Who are American citizens because they were born here. And so look, we’re going to continue to take steps to crack down on smugglers, right? We’re going to continue to take steps to secure the border. So that is something that we’re certainly going to focus on, but I think to answer the question in a more broader sense, the immigration system is broken. It is broken. It has been broken for decades, for decades.

(31:12)
The president on day one wanted to get ahead of that or try to fix that, move that forward by putting forth a broken immigration system. The announcement today does not take away from the fact that the immigration system is broken, and it does not take away from the fact that Congress needs to act and we want to see a balanced approach. We want to see a bipartisan approach to this, and they could, they can do it. They can certainly do that. Go ahead.

Following up on immigration. When you were asked about timing earlier, you were mentioning the president prefers to work with Congress. Why not earlier this year for example, or late last year? I know the bipartisan Senate bill was being worked on, but that didn’t include parole in place for spouses or anything for DACA recipients.

Yeah, look-

It seems different [inaudible 00:32:01].

No, I hear you. Look, there’s been many phases of this obviously. There was first, the comprehensive immigration proposal legislation that the president introduced day one, right? And then he’s taken actions, right? From that moment until the bipartisan discussion was happening in Senate. He’s taken multiple actions. Right? And then we had an opportunity late last year, early this year to do that in a more balanced approach, to do that in the Senate with both Republicans and Democrats. So the president took that opportunity and directed his team to have those conversations. And we believe at that time, the proposal that was being put forward was going to be fair, tough but fair.

(32:43)
And I would say since then, since it was rejected by Republicans twice, the president has looked at every option. We say that. We say that many, many times. We look at all options and we try to figure out how we can move forward with these different options in different ways. And look, with the EO to secure the border, this is something that majority of Americans wanted to see. Right?

No, I understand that. But the Senate bill seems separate than what’s being announced today.

No, and I’m agreeing with you.

So I’m trying to understand the impetus of why now for the actions today?

No, but I’m agreeing with you. There’s been many iterations of different ways to move forward in dealing with a broken immigration system. The first one was a comprehensive plan that the president himself put forward. And then he took actions, right? He took other actions between then, that moment, until we got to the Senate and their bipartisan proposal, and that was different. You’re right, it is very different than what you’re seeing here. The president has always said… Remember, he’s taken executive actions before. He took one very recently and he’s looking at every way to figure out how we can have policy that’s also fair. We’ve always said that our immigration policy needs to be fair and just. We’ve always said that and we’ve taken different approaches, we’ve taken different action. This is the announcement for today.

Is it fair to say you wanted to sign the executive order on the border before doing something like this for those?

I’m not going to get into that. I think we know for some time that what we’re seeing at the border is dynamic. We saw that, right? That it was important to deal with the challenges of the border, so the president acted on that. And we’ve always said that we need an immigration policy that’s more just, that’s more fair. Let’s not forget, this is a president that was part of the DACA, DREAMers getting a shot here and being able to stay and get work permits. That happened in 2012. So there’s nothing unusual, I think of where we are today than where the president has stood for some time, more than a decade.

(34:53)
And so I think this is all part of that. This is all part of building on actions that he has taken. He would love to see a comprehensive Congressional approach. We still need that. We still need legislation, and so he’ll continue to work on that. Go ahead, Michael.

Thanks, Karine. Sticking with immigration, this order is almost certainly going to be challenged in court. So I’m just wondering how confident you are that you’re on solid legal footing with this? How confident are you that this can withstand the court challenge?

So look, we believe that this approach or this announcement that we’re taking today is squarely within our legal authorities. That’s what we believe. Go ahead.

I have one on immigration, but I wanted to address the heat and the wildfires out west. How closely is the White House watching those wildfires and is there any concern about the early start to wildfire season?

And I appreciate the question because I think it’s really important. The president and his team are obviously closely monitoring the wildfires in California and also in New Mexico. And he has directed his team to do everything that they can to support state and local efforts to contain and suppress the fire. Today, FEMA approved two Fire Management Assistant Grants for the South Fork Fire and the Salt Fire in New Mexico. The US Forest Service is on the ground right now, working directly with their state and local counterparts to fight the blaze. As we do any time that we’re seeing these wildfires, we certainly urge residents in the area to listen to local officials and heed the evacuation warnings and orders. It is imperative and critical that they do that. And I know you have a second question.

Yeah, on immigration. You keep referring to Congress’s duty to act, the broken immigration system. Does the White House feel that the-

But it’s true. I keep referring to it because it’s true, it’s true.

Understandable, but does the White House feel that President Biden has exhausted everything that he can do on this matter by executive order?

But look, you see the president making announcement, he’s going to make announcement today. He took an executive action a couple of weeks ago. We continue to say we’re going to look to see what else we can do, and this is what he’s directed his team to do, right? Is to look at ways that we can deal with this broken immigration system. But this is piecemeal, right? This announcement is important. It’s going to be important and critically important to American families and their communities. It’s really important. But as I keep saying, in order to actually deal with this issue, we have to do it in a comprehensive way.

(37:36)
The president’s going to do everything that he can and it is imperative for Congress to do their job and to fix the system that has been broken for decades, and not listen to the former president who’s about their own political aspirations. That’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about dealing with a system that has been broken and moving forward in a way that helps Americans, American citizens and their families. Go ahead.

Thank you, Karine. Going back to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments earlier, he made this pretty blistering statement in English, posted it to social media for consumption by American English language media, not long after his war Cabinet collapsed or he had to pull down his war Cabinet. And you just said that you have no idea what he’s talking about and that only this one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been paused by the president. Is the Prime Minister lying? Is he making things up for political effect?

I can’t speak to his political strategy, effects. That’s not something that I can speak to. I was asked a question, I answered it. I don’t know what he’s talking about. We were very clear about there being one shipment that we continue to have construction

… instruction conversations with Israel about. Nothing else has been paused, you heard that directly from Secretary Blinken. I can’t speak for the prime minister. He’s clearly speaking for himself. I’m speaking on behalf of this administration. I’m speaking on behalf of this president. I just don’t have anything to add. I can’t speak to his political strategy, that is not something for me to analyze, to do punditry from this podium.

Understood. So just to confirm. Anything other than aforementioned shipment of 2,000 pound balance, categorically untrue that it’s been paused?

I already answered this question and categorically untrue. There is one shipment. One shipment. All right, go ahead Anita.

Thank you. I have a question about the Resolve to Vet Act and then another on marriage. Starting with the Resolve to Vet Act, China’s warning that if the president signs it, there will be, “Resolute measures,” against the US. They’re also protesting US delegations like Nancy Pelosi who are going to India to meet with the Dalai Lama. So what is the White House’s response to these threats from China? And does the president plan to sign this?

I mean, look, the president’s going to do what he thinks is best on behalf of the American people. That’s what I can tell you.

But yes or no?

He’s going to do what he thinks is best on behalf of the American people. I’m not going to get ahead of the president.

Cool. All right. On marriage.

It’s hot, but sure, cool.

Sure. Cool. On marriage. So regarding this EO, in many states in the United States such as my home state of Texas-

Oh, marriage, the-

Yeah.

Okay.

… you have to present a stack of documents. For example, a driving license, a certified copy of the birth certificate, passport or military identification card and Social Security cards in order to get a marriage license. I just wonder if this puts some of these applicants in this Kafkaesque situation where they haven’t applied for this, they may have an informal marriage or a common law marriage. And would that make them ineligible for this executive order? Do you accept things like, for example, the Declaration of Informal Marriage Form from states?

So I appreciate this is a process question. I appreciate the question. You’re going to have to go to DHS to get specifics on that. I won’t get into details of this, but that is something that the Department of-

I’m concerned that asking for what amounts to legal paperwork for people who are undocumented and have a lack of paperwork in many critical ways, might put them in a binding position.

Look, I think the bottom line here and something to remember that there’re American families, there are people who have been here for 23 years, who are married to American citizens and who have contributed into these communities, whether it’s the economy or, as I said, in communities. And we want to protect American citizens, American families and not separate them. And this is an opportunity to do that. And as far as what this is going to look like, what are the rules? What’s the process? That is something DHS can obviously speak to more. But if you look at this in a more broad stroke, this is an important announcement. This is. As we’re dealing with immigration policy that is broken, that is arcane, that has not been updated in some time, the president is doing everything that he can within his power to deal with this situation.

(42:29)
And look, I’m going to be a broken record, but it is important as I’m trying to make my point here, Congress needs to act to actually have a comprehensive answer here to deal with the system. You would not be asking me this specific question if Congress would do their job if they would actually take action and do their job. And so I think what’s important is this is announcement is going to matter to American citizens who are here and have a spouse, who have been here for more than a decade, participated in the economy, participated in their community, and I think that’s important.

Can I ask the last quick question I promise I won’t ever ask? Did the president call the US team after they beat Pakistan? And if by some wonderful turn of events they do win the tournament, will he be inviting them to the White House?

What’s the interest in the cricket team? No, it’s great, but I’m just-

Are you serious? Because I can answer that.

Oh yeah, I’m serious.

Okay. So there are 5 million people of Subcontinental origin in the United States. Add to that 13 million people of West Indian origin in the United States. You may see us everywhere, but in terms of sports icons, we’re thin on the ground. To see them with the word USA on their chest-

That’s pretty dope.

… beating the British at their own game.

Yeah.

Super satisfying.

No, that’s cool.

Yeah, it’s the decolonization metaphor rather [inaudible 00:43:56].

That’s cool. So like we said yesterday, we certainly congratulate the US Cricket Team. Obviously what they have been able to accomplish is meaningful to many people like yourself and-

18 million of us.

Well, yeah, 18 million of you all, which I think is incredibly important. Representation matters, you hear us say that all the time. As it relates to a call from the president, don’t have anything to share at this time. But certainly, we congratulate them. It is a big deal. It is indeed very cool. And we are very proud and excited for them. Go ahead, Garren.

Thanks, Karine. Two questions. First, the Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm that awards grants to Black women-owned businesses had a Federal Appeals Court suspend their grant program due to the claim that it discriminates against white business owners. The co-founder is calling on President Biden to take executive action to, “Safe guard DEI initiatives and funding rights for marginalized groups.” Similarly, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to the president today, asking him to promote, protect and expand programs that lead to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Given these concerns, does the White House believe it is doing all it can to protect diversity, equity and inclusion?

Yeah. So I’m going to be really mindful here. It’s an ongoing litigation, so I don’t want to speak to it directly and don’t have any news to make, obviously, on any executive action. But this is in line to what I was just saying to Anita about how important for representation and how that matters. And the president always says diversity is one of our greatest strengths here in this country. Really goes in line with many of the themes of today, when we talk about immigration, when we talk about keeping talent and strengthening our community. It’s all in line. And so what I will say more broadly is under this administration, we’re achieving the fastest creation of Black-owned business than we’ve seen in 25 years. I think it’s about 18 million new applications in small businesses since this administration started. I think that’s important. And to have an increase and an uptick in Black-owned business out of that 18 million is actually pretty critical.

(46:22)
The president also signed an executive order to advance diversity and accessibility within his first six months in office. This administration is going to keep providing economic mobility for all Americans, including obviously the talent that we see in Black communities, including women and women-owned businesses and how they contribute to our economy. And so that’s something that we take very seriously here in this administration. SBA takes very seriously obviously in the work that they have done. And diversity is certainly one of our greatest strengths, which is something that the president says over and over again.

Has the White House been in contact with the Fearless Fund at all?

Have we been in contact with the Fearless Fund? I don’t have any calls or meetings to speak to. And we’re just going to be super mindful, as I just stated at the top, in answering your question. This is an ongoing litigation, so we want to be super careful here.

As a follow up question. Given the president’s actions on marijuana reform, does the White House have a response to Maryland Governor Wes Moore pardoning 175, 000 marijuana convictions, which has been hailed as a major racial justice effort?

So we certainly welcome the news and it builds on the president’s work to reform how nations approaches marijuana. And the president has said he called for governors to do their part and to take action. So this is welcome, as I just stated. And in addition, the process to reschedule marijuana, the president has been clear that no one should be in jail just for possessing marijuana. And he has a record number of pardons for prior federal offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana. And he will continue to urge all governors to do the same. And so we see that in Maryland, we saw that in Massachusetts, we saw that in Oregon. And so he commends and welcomes certainly this news. [inaudible 00:48:27].

Karine, on heat waves. Climate experts-

Sorry, can you start from the beginning? I’m sorry.

Yeah. On the heat waves. According to climate experts, to advocacy groups, these heat waves are going to become more frequent, last longer, start earlier. Is the Federal Response and Relief System adequately equipped to deal with this threat?

So look, we’re doing everything that we can to deal with what we’re seeing, the heat wave. And you’ve heard us talk about climate change and the president has taken certainly strong actions, progressive actions to deal with climate change. You see that in the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the biggest legislation to actually deal with climate change. But the president is going to continue to work in lowering cooling costs, I think that’s important, and keep Americans safe from extreme temperatures. A couple things that I just want to lay out. HHS launched a nationwide effort to help local officials identify communities most vulnerable to extreme heat and target resources to those communities.

(49:34)
The Department of Labor is using all of its existing tools to protect workers from extreme heat. Since 2022, they have conducted over 5,000 federal heat-related inspections. And we have provided billions of dollars to cities nationwide to help build resilience against climate impacts like heat wave, including by expanding access to cooling systems for public housing residents. This is why the Inflation Reduction Act, which by the way only Democrats voted for it, was so critical and so important in providing those types of resources as well. I think I have to… Go ahead, Jared. I know, I have to wrap it up.

As a follow up to something that came up yesterday when you were asked about the president making comments about potential Supreme Court nominations. I was just curious, unrelated to the campaign, how far along is the president thinking about who he’d want to nominate in the event that he has more nominations?

Wow, that’s way into the future.

I mean, he brought it up in the campaign, but is it something he’s thinking about?

I mean, look, as you said, you heard directly from the president. He brought it up in a campaign stop obviously this weekend in Los Angeles. I don’t have anything more on the president’s thinking or a list for you all at this time. But I guess what I’d like to say is stay tuned. All right everybody, thank you so much.

Thanks.

Thanks, Karine.