Jen Psaki

White House press secretary Jen Psaki began Wednesday's briefing by taking questions from reporters sitting behind the first row, an unusual step that comes ...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a news briefing on Thursday following new reports of record inflation and the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine.

Polish President Andrzej Duda warned of a “refugee disaster” if Poland doesn’t receive more assistance to help house and feed Ukrainians fleeing the conflict. He said he asked visiting U.S. President Kamala Harris for the U.S. to “speed up” the process for those Ukrainian refugees who would want to go to the U.S. and might have family there. Top U.S. intelligence officials admitted Thursday that they underestimated Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, a mistake for intelligence agencies that have otherwise been lauded for accurately predicting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to launch a war. The legislation includes $6.8 billion to care for refugees and other economic aid to allies. She told reporters on Thursday that U.S. intelligence and military experts assessed adding aircraft to Ukraine was “not likely to significantly change the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force relative to Russian capabilities.” The White House has faced Republican criticism that it isn’t providing enough weapons or intelligence to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Biden administration is currently opposed to a Polish plan to donate old Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine, out of concern that Putin may view that as an escalation by the U.S. or NATO.

Jen Psaki doubled down on blaming Vladimir Putin for soaring U.S. inflation, after the consumer price index hit another 40-year in February, which Biden ...

'At the same time, today’s inflation report is a reminder that Americans' budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike. Steady job growth is encouraging more people to move into their own apartments, elevating rental costs by the most in two decades. 'Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel. Yet energy markets have been so volatile that it's impossible to know if the decline will stick. 'Finally, I want to be clear: we can do all this, and reduce the huge federal budget deficit that I inherited from my predecessor. I’m promoting competition to make sure big corporations are offering consumers fair prices, and I’m pressing Congress to pass my plan to lower the cost of essentials like prescription drugs and energy. For over a year now, inflation has way overshot the Fed's 2 percent annual target. Inflation is likely to spike even higher next month, as the impact of soaring fuel prices is taken into account. A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions. The rate of people on unemployment insurance is the lowest since 1970 – more than 50 years. And, private sector job growth is strong, boosted by the steps we took in the American Rescue Plan a year ago this week. It is the largest annual gain since June of 1982.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki condemned the bill passed earlier this week by the Republican-dominated legislature in Florida.

“How many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?” DeSantis said. He rejected the portrayal of the legislation during a press conference last week by peddling disparaging talking points popular in the Republican Party about transgender people. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona also criticized the legislation, saying that politicians in Florida “are prioritizing hateful bills that hurt some of the students most in need” rather than helping them to recover from the pandemic. Is it meanness? Parents would be able to sue the school district if they believed violations had occurred. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law.

Jen Psaki said Wednesday that President Biden's “short gaggles” when he's getting on plane or traveling in a car are “not always super comprehensive."

"And so by canceling Keystone, it artificially raises the price of Canadian oil and allows for the Russians to undercut that." Does the president believe there is action that he can take to address gas prices, or does he believe there’s not much that can be done?" Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, used #PutinPriceHike in a Wednesday tweet. I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home and coordination with our partners." "And with this action, it's going to go up further. "For anyone that might have been confused seeing the two statements from the president within a couple of hours, what would be your explanation?