Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, November 19, 2021 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    We are the largest employer in the country. So it is - the U.S. government that is, of course - so it's going to take some time to collect the data, even as it comes in that day. And once we have gone through the data and have that, we will share that with all of you publicly.

    But especially as we know, we will - what we have seen is there is a surge in attestations and vaccination as we get closer to the deadline, which is certainly encouraging. But we want to have the final data Monday, through the day, before we release that publicly. It's going to take a little bit of time to process.

    But, no, we do not anticipate facing any governmental operational disruptions due to this requirement. And, in fact, the requirement will avoid disruptions, in our view, in our labor force because vaccinations help avoid COVID.

    Q And how will the boosters for Moderna and Pfizer, which are pretty close to being approved - how will that factor into these vaccine requirements for federal workers?

    MS. PSAKI: Well, we abide by the CDC guidance - which we follow it and will continue to - which is two shots of an mRNA vaccine or one J&J shot; that has not changed. And so we're not going to get ahead of any changes they could make in the future.

    Go ahead.

    Q Thanks, Jen. A couple of questions on the Build Back Better plan and also how things went last night in the House. Does the White House have any response to Representative McCarthy's eight-hour speech last night that delayed the vote?

    MS. PSAKI: Well, Kevin McCarthy said a lot of words - a lot of words; I just want to emphasize that - over the course of eight and a half hours.

    For those of you who didn't watch all of it: He mused about - he shared his wish that he could have been in Tiananmen Square. He mused about whether or not Abraham Lincoln was actually assassinated. He shared his whole his hope or his thought or dream - I'm not sure - about picturing America in a swim meet after World War Two against every other country.


    But in eight and a half hours, what he did not talk about was cutting the cost of childcare, cutting the cost of eldercare, what we were going to do around the country to bring more women into the workforce, to protect our climate, and that - for generations to come. That, in our view, tells you all you need to know about Kevin McCarthy's agenda and what he supports.

    Q Okay. And Senator Manchin - on the topic of Senator Manchin: He says he's still not decided on this bill. Is there anything that the White House is doing to get him to come around on the bill? I know you mentioned this a few moments ago, but is there anything specific that you guys are doing to kind of convince him?

    MS. PSAKI: Well, we've been in close touch, as you all know, with Senator Manchin for several months now. That will continue. That can include answering questions he may have, hearing concerns he may have. We are in touch with him, with his staff through senior White House officials at this point in time. And we believe he's been operating and negotiating in good faith. That has been our experience to date.

    So now, as everyone knows, the next step is getting it through the Senate. That's what our focus will be on. And I expect we'll continue the discussions and negotiations as they have occurred to date.

    Q Could you tell us when was the last time the President spoke with him?

    MS. PSAKI: I don't have any update on that. But I would note that a lot of this work happens - and I think members of Congress and their staff will tell you this - at a staff level. It's answering questions. It's following up. The President has had him here a number of times, as you certainly all know well, but I don't have an update on the last call.

    Q Thank you.

    MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.

    Q Following up on that, the President has made it clear how important paid leave is to him in this bill. Would the President sign the Build Back Better Act if paid leave got dropped from the bill?

    MS. PSAKI: Well, you're right that the President absolutely wants to see paid leave in a final package. That's why he proposed it in his initial proposal when he laid out his speech back in May, outlining his Build Back Better Agenda. He thinks it's long overdue. He thinks it will help bring more women into the workforce. It will ensure that more women have seats at the table. And it's something he would like to see in the package.

    He also knows and recognizes that you need the majority of members in the Senate - all - every single Democrat - to support something to get it across the finish line. And what he looks at - and I'm not going to prejudge what the outcome is here - is the totality of - and this is how the American people look at things - the totality of packages of what is included.

    This bill, no matter what - everybody supports universal pre-K, cutting the cost of childcare, historic investment in addressing the climate crisis, making sure there's more housing units available, investing and making sure eldercare is less expensive.

    There are disagreements - everybody knows that - publicly, but he knows he's not going to get everything he wants in this package. If it's not in there, he'll continue to fight for it.

    Q So what is the backup plan if paid leave does get dropped from the Build Back Better Bill?

    MS. PSAKI: He'll continue to fight to make it law.

    Q And just a logistical question. Will we get all the results of the President's physical this afternoon, or are there some lab results or test results that we won't see until a later date, like next week?

    MS. PSAKI: I expect it will be a comprehensive summary of everything today and don't anticipate, at this point, that there would be lagging results later.

    Go ahead.

    Q So, first, following up on the physical. If this was a routine physical, why wasn't it on the schedule that you gave us last night? Why the secrecy there?

    MS. PSAKI: Well, just to peel the curtain back for the American people on how this works and how it typically works - if you look back at history here: This morning, we notified the pool - the press pool - many of you are part of that and rotate through that. We called the President of the White House Correspondents Association -

    Q Very early. (Laughter.)

    MS. PSAKI: - very early this morning - who was awake. We called the network bureau chief - chair - that's rotating, as you know, and indicated that the President - not only would the pool be gathering, but the President would be going to get a routine physical.

    I then sent out a tweet to many, many people out there at around 6:15 a.m. And we have put out many, many updates since then, and we will put out a comprehensive written summary later this afternoon.

    That's pretty standard for how it's approached - sharing this information. It's - it follows protocols that have been followed in the past.

    And, again, you all will receive a comprehensive summary later this afternoon.

    Q Okay. Moving on to the Build Back Better plan: Is the President going to stop saying that the Build Back Better plan does not increase the deficit "one single cent" if we now know that that is not true?

    MS. PSAKI: It is true. And I would note that several economists and experts out there - I would note - I think you're probably talking about the CBO score.

    Q Which Joe Biden himself, in 2010, called the "gold standard" for Democrats and Republicans.

    MS. PSAKI: Well, Peter, since we're all here to communicate with the public about accurate information, what I would just note is that one of the components that experts - Democrats and Republicans, including former heads of the CBO - have pointed to is that IRS - IRS enforcement is not something that there's a lot of experience in the CBO scoring.

    They still scored it, but it is undervalued by the assessment of many economists and experts, including people who have been critical of us in the past, who estimate - including former Treasury Secretaries of both parties - who estimate there will be significant savings, significantly higher than what is estimated currently.


    So, our assessment and the assessment by many economists out there is that there will be savings. Over 10 years, it will actually reduce the deficit.

    Q The CBO's projection is that it's going to - that there's going to be at least a $160 billion increase to the deficit over 10 years. That is 16 trillion cents. So the President was not telling the truth.

    MS. PSAKI: Well, Peter - just to go back to the content facts here - so CB- - so the IRS enforcement component, something recommended by former Secretary Hank Paulson, former Secretary Larry Summers - Democrats and Republicans of both parties - who feel there could be significant savings over the course of time.

    I'm just going to note something that form- - Trump-appointed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said: " The administration estimates $400 billion in additional revenue can be generated over the next decade from enforcement efforts focused on higher-end incomes, shrinking the tax gap. This figure is no surprise".

    Republican former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson cowrote an op-ed with other former Treasury Secretaries, saying that there could be considerably more revenue than we projected, from the White House, from this.

    So, again, this is an area where experts - economic experts - neither of us are one; I think we can confirm that -

    Q Confirmed.

    MS. PSAKI: - have confirmed that there are significant savings that will come from this. That is why moderate members of the House, I think they would tell you - and many of them have spoken to this, including Congressman Kurt Schrader, who was one of the moderates who was on the borderline, given deficit impacts - have said they felt comfortable with it because of the expertise out there about the impact of IRS enforcement.


    Q When the last administration tried to say that the CBO was incorrect, you tweeted, "Watching [Mulvaney] try to walk away from [a] CBO score and explain [the] budget outline is awkward and uncomfortable to watch." So what is the difference between the Trump administration saying, "Don't listen to the CBO" and the Biden administration saying, "Don't listen to the CBO"?

    MS. PSAKI: Actually, we've praised the overall work of the CBO on the Build Back Better Act repeatedly. And that's what we believe.

    But again, I would point to the fact that there isn't a great deal of history or experience in scoring IRS enforcement. That's something that economists across the board have noted. That's something that leaders on the Hill - Democrats and Republicans - have been briefed on for several months now. And that's why it wasn't really a surprise to them and why the vote, in part, moved forward.

    Go ahead, Kristen.