Pool Reports of January 17, 2024

Pool report #1: Briefing to begin at 2 p.m.

Good morning folks,

Chris Kane, here, your print pooler for the day.

Today's press briefing will begin at 2 p.m.

Thanks!

Pool report #2: lunch lid till 1:30 p.m.

We have a lunch lid till 1:30 p.m.

Pool report #3: Briefing to begin at 2:30 p.m.

Good afternoon,

The press briefing will now begin at 2:30 p.m. today.

Pool report #4: 2-minutes for briefing

Good afternoon,

Press briefing set to begin in 2 minutes

Pool report #5: Briefing ends

Good afternoon,

Today's press briefing concluded at 3:25 p.m.

Pool report #6: POTUS to host lawmakers to discuss support for Ukraine

Good afternoon,

See below from the White House:

The President is hosting Congressional leaders to discuss the critical importance of continuing to support Ukraine.

Congressional Participants:
Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04)
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY)
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY)
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
Senator Patty Murray (WA)
Senator Jack Reed (RI)
Senator Susan Collins (ME)
Senator Ben Cardin (MD)
Senator Mark Warner (VA)
Senator Jim Risch (ID)
Senator Marco Rubio (FL)
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09)
Rep. Greg Meeks (NY-05)
Rep. Mike Rogers (AL-03)
Rep. Mike Turner (OH-10)
Rep. Mike McCaul (TX-10)
Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04)

White House Participants:
Jeff Zients, Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff
Director Shalanda Young, Assistant to the President & Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Director Avril Haines, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Steve Ricchetti, Assistant to the President & Counselor to the President
Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
Shuwanza Goff, Assistant to the President & Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs

Pool report #7: Members of Congress to give remarks at stakeout location

Members of Congress are headed to the stakeout location for brief remarks.

Pool report #8: Lawmakers give brief remarks

Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) delivered brief remarks at the stakeout location. He was flanked by U.S. Reps. Mike Turner (Ohio) and Michael McCaul (Texas)

They were followed by Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), both of whom spoke.

Schumer said that following today’s meeting he estimates the chances of a deal being struck on support for Ukraine and a plan for the border are greater than 50%.

More complete remarks to follow.

None of the members took questions from reporters.

Pool report #9: Travel/photo lid

Good evening,

The WH called a lid at 5:12 p.m. Stay safe and warm out there!

Pool report #10: Complete remarks from lawmakers

House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.)

• Thank you all for being here. We had a productive meeting with House and Senate leaders. The President was very forthright. I told the President what I have been saying for many months, and that is that we must have change at the border -- substantive policy change.
• We documented 64 instances where the President took executive action or his agencies took action to create the current catastrophe that we have at the border. It's a national security and a humanitarian catastrophe. And I articulated that to the president in the meeting.
• Now, we understand that there's concern about the safety, security, sovereignty of Ukraine, but the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty and our own safety and security.
• We have talked about the necessary elements to solve this problem. We passed our bill and it has critical elements -- it's a restoration of the remain in Mexico policy. It is the end of catch and release. It is reform to the broken asylum and parole systems.
• We're not insistent upon a particular name of a piece of legislation, but we are insistent that the elements have to be meaningful. The House is ready to act. But the legislation has to solve the problem. And that's the critical point.
• We understand the necessity about Ukraine funding and we want to say that the status quo is unacceptable. We need the commander in chief of this country, the president of the United States, to show strength on the world stage and not weakness. We cannot continue with the current status quo.
• We understand the importance of what's been needed. But when I met with President Zelenskyy just last month, right before Christmas, he said that the necessary ingredient is the proper weapons systems. And there are certain things that are needed to ensure that they can prove it. We need the questions answered about the strategy about the endgame and about the accountability for the precious treasure of the American people.
• We understand that all these things are important, but we must insist -- we must insist -- that the border be the top priority. I think we have some consensus around the table. Everyone understands the urgency of that. And we're going to continue to. I want to thank my colleagues here, the chairman of our committees of jurisdiction for being here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.)

• Thank you very much. It was a very good meeting, a very positive [...] that we must do Ukraine, and we must do border. There was tremendous focus on Ukraine, and an understanding that if we don't come to Ukraine's aid, that the consequences for America around the globe would be nothing short of devastating. And within a year, we would be on our backfoot doing all kinds of things that we that we wouldn't want to do, that it was essential, essential, and it was Democratic and Republican agreement that was essential, we help Ukraine.
• We also talked about the border and how it's so important to deal with the border. The President himself said over and over again, that he is willing to move forward on border. And so we said we have to do both. There were a couple of people in the room that said let's do border first. We said we have to do both together.
• And the only way we will do border and Ukraine or even either of them is bipartisan. You cannot -- cannot -- do things with one party in a divided Congress. And so anyone who says, any party that says do it my way or no way, we're not going to get anything done. And I think there was broad agreement in the room that we had to do this in a bipartisan way.
• Speaking in the Senate, we are making really good progress. I am more optimistic now that we can come to an agreement on border and Ukraine in one package, along with aid to Israel, along with humanitarian aid for the Palestinians in Gaza, and along with helping us Indochina. I am more optimistic than ever before that we come to an agreement, I put the chances a little bit greater than half. And that's the first time I can say that.
• And so we hope to fund the government this week. And then if we can come to an agreement -- we haven't come to an agreement yet in the Senate -- move forward very quickly.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.)

• Thank you to Leader Schumer. Thank you to President Biden for convening the legislative leadership from both the House and the Senate with very positive, forward looking candid discussion about the issues of importance to the American people.
• First and foremost, that funding the Ukrainian war effort is in America's national security interests. And it's important that we sustain the effort not simply just for the good of Ukrainian people -- though they are allies of the United States, and that's incredibly important. But it is urgently necessary that we continue to support the Ukrainian effort for the good of the free world. For the good of democracy and for the good of America's national security interests.
• And there was broad agreement on that point. As leader Schumer has indicated, there was also an openness to, in a bipartisan way, addressing the situation at the border. It has to be bipartisan. It has to be reasonable. It has to be effective. It has to be consistent with American values.