Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders - Issued on: January 24, 2018 | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Issued on: January 24, 2018  •  James S. Brady Press Briefing Room



Press Release:

    Issued on: January 24, 2018  •  James S. Brady Press Briefing Room



    MS. SANDERS: Good afternoon. Sorry for the very delayed start today.

    The President spoke earlier today with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and offered his deepest sympathies and condolences to the victims of the attack at Marshall County High School.

    We are preparing to leave tonight for Switzerland, where the President will be attending the World Economic Forum. Director Cohn and General McMaster did a great job previewing that trip to all of you yesterday, so I won't add too much more to their remarks.

    The President is very much looking forward to delivering the message to the world that America is open for business and that there is no better time in history to invest and create jobs here in the United States.

    As you all know, this week is National School Choice Week. Secretary DeVos has been a strong leader on this issue for many years, and she's doing a great job leading the charge at the Department of Education.

    The President released a proclamation officially declaring this National School Choice Week. "To maintain our global leadership and strengthen our modern economy," he wrote, "America's education system must prepare students for the unforeseen challenges of the future. By giving parents more control over their children's education, we are making strides toward a future of unprecedented educational attainment and freedom of choice."

    "During National School Choice Week, I encourage parents to explore innovative and educational alternatives, and I challenge students to dream big and work hard for the futures they deserve. I also urge state and federal lawmakers to embrace school choice and enact policies that empower families and strengthen communities."

    On the nominations front, we were pleased to see the Senate confirm the President's highly qualified nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

    We're also pleased that the President's HHS Secretary nominee, Alex Azar, cleared his final procedural hurdle in the Senate on a bipartisan basis. We look forward to Mr. Azar's confirmation so we can continue working to lower healthcare costs and increase the quality of care for all Americans.

    Finally, before taking your questions, I'd like to deliver a statement and update regarding the path forward on immigration:

    "Last fall, the White House sent Congress a list of the core reforms necessary to fix our immigration system. These reforms were assembled in coordination with frontline law enforcement officers and career public servants who know what is necessary to keep America safe.

    Since that time, President Donald J. Trump and his administration have hosted dozens of meetings with Republican and Democrat leadership, and rank-and-file members of the House and Senate, to discuss these reforms and find a bipartisan path forward. Based on these negotiations, the White House will release a legislative framework on Monday that represents a compromise that members of both parties can support. We encourage the Senate to bring it to the floor.

    This framework will fulfill the four agreed-upon pillars: securing the border and closing legal loopholes; ending extended-

    Contact: White House • whitehouse.gov/the-press-office; cancelling the visa lottery; and providing a permanent solution on DACA. After decades of inaction by Congress, it's time we work together to solve this issue once and for all. The American people deserve no less."

    And with that, I'll take your questions. Zeke.


    Q Thanks, Sarah. Two for you. First on that immigration announcement. Does that legislative framework you said is a permanent solution for DACA, does that include a path to citizenship for the recipients?

    MS. SANDERS: Well, if I told you now, it would kind of take away the fun for Monday. We will, again, as I said, be rolling out some of the specifics of the framework of that legislation that we'd like to see on Monday. I'm not going to get ahead; I'm not going to go any further than we have in laying out the principles we already have over the last several days.

    Q And separately, you mentioned the Davos trip. Secretary Mnuchin made some news over there earlier today when he said that - said that he supported - that he was pleased to see that there's a weaker dollar. And that was a break from previous Treasury secretaries. Does that reflect accurately the President's view of U.S. currency?

    MS. SANDERS: Look, currently we have a very stable dollar because of how well the U.S. is doing, and it's as powerful as it's ever been. And therefore, it's the reserve currency of the world, and that's the official position at the White House.

    Q So the White House prefers a strong dollar versus a weaker dollar?

    MS. SANDERS: Again, we believe in free-floating currency. The President has always believed in that. And we have, like I said, a very stable dollar in large part due to how well the U.S. economy is doing right now.

    Cecilia.


    Q Does the President make a habit of asking career government officials their voting habits?

    MS. SANDERS: Not that I'm aware of, no.

    Q Did he ask Andrew McCabe how he voted?

    MS. SANDERS: Look, the President and Andrew McCabe have had limited and pretty non-substantive conversations. I can't get into the details of what was discussed. I wasn't there. There are widespread reports of his retirement. We're making sure that we're focused on the FBI and DOJ serving all Americans fairly and efficiently, and we're going to move forward from there. Thanks.

    Q But that's kind of a yes-or-no question - he did or didn't ask.

    MS. SANDERS: I wasn't in the room. I don't know what was discussed. I know he didn't ask me. So I can tell you that.

    Pamela.


    Q But does the President trust the FBI and the people who work at the FBI?

    MS. SANDERS: He certainly has 100 percent confidence in Director Wray, and that's why he put him there. He feels like he is the right person to lead the FBI. As I've said many times before, he has confidence in the rank-and-file members of the FBI. We're not going to let a few bad actors tarnish the entire group. But that's why Director Wray is there, and he feels like any changes that need to be made, he will make those changes.

    Kevin.


    Q Thank you, Sarah. The Justice Department is threatening 23 so-called sanctuary cities - including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles - with subpoenas if they fail to provide documents to show whether the local law enforcement officials are sharing information with federal immigration authorities. What is the White House's view on this? And the fallout from that appears to have affected the attendance of some mayors to today's event. If you would comment on that, I'd appreciate it.

    MS. SANDERS: The White House has been very clear that we don't support sanctuary cities. We support enforcing the law and following the law. And that is the Department of Justice's job, is do exactly that. And if mayors have a problem with that, they should talk to Congress, the people that pass the laws.

    The Department of Justice enforces them, and as long as that is the law, the Department of Justice is going to strongly enforce it.


    Q How will that impact the White House's relationship with some of the larger-city mayors in this country with whom this White House has pledged to not only work hand-in-hand on some major policy issues, in particular with infrastructure? How does that (inaudible).

    MS. SANDERS: Look, we would love to able to work with these mayors, particularly on issues like infrastructure and other things. But we cannot allow people to pick and choose what laws they want to follow. If we have a country with no laws, then nothing matters.

    So we cannot allow a few individual people to decide that they don't want to follow the rules. You guys wouldn't be allowed to do that in your own networks and outlets, and the federal government cannot allow people to act independently and completely ignore the law.

    Major.


    Q Sarah, in the development of this compromise framework that you're going to release on Monday, how closely did the President and his staff work with the House Republican leadership?

    MS. SANDERS: Look, we've been working with both House and Senate members. We've had dozens of conversations with them. And the framework that you see on Monday will be born out of a lot of those conversations that we've had with a number of members, both Republicans, Democrats, House, and Senate.

    Q Will it be the President's belief that, once that's presented, that would be a package that could pass the House of Representatives?

    MS. SANDERS: We'd certainly like to think so.

    Q With Republican leadership.

    MS. SANDERS: Again, we've taken into account all of the conversations that we've had, both at the Presidential and the staff level, and tried to incorporate that into what we think addresses all of the different things that we've heard from the various stakeholders throughout the last several months

    Q So it's your belief it would be able to pass the House and the Senate, and that's the -

    MS. SANDERS: I don't think a legislative package that can't pass both Houses doesn't help us much.

    Q No, no, no, but you understand the - you understand the difference. The perception is, in the Senate it would come down in one form and would not be passable in the House. My question is: Do you think you can bridge that? And is the point of this framework, based on your conversations, to do precisely that?

    MS. SANDERS: Absolutely. We want to see a legislative package that addresses the four things that we've laid out, that can pass both the House and the Senate, and make it to the President's desk so that we can help actually fix our immigration system.

    Q And therefore, it's different than what you've previously discussed, either with Senator Schumer or Lindsey Graham, or Dick Durbin, or Representative Goodlatte?

    MS. SANDERS: It addresses the four principles that we've talked about all along, and we think, again, takes into account all of conversations that we've had over the last several months.

    John.


    Q Thanks a lot, Sarah. Steve Bannon, the former Chief Strategist for the President, in the next few weeks will likely come before the Special Counsel's office to submit to an interview with the Special Counsel's office. Will the President be invoking executive privilege to prevent any part of his testimony?

    MS. SANDERS: I can't speak to the specifics of that. I can tell you that the White House has been fully cooperative and will continue to do so.

    Q The privilege of executive privilege is one that only the President can invoke, and as you may recall, he did not invoke it for when former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. As you've mentioned many times, the President has mentioned many times, there is no collusion. What - why -

    MS. SANDERS: I'm glad you guys are starting to echo that too

    Q Yeah, we hear it a lot. (Laughter.)
Go Back



Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Statement from the Press Secretary on the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons News Services, Government, State and Federal Cooper Pipeline Deal Includes 'Discretionary' Fund Outside Budget Process

HbAD0

 
Back to Top