Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Aboard Air Force One
En Route New York, New York

1:40 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hello.

Q: Hey.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi, hi, everybody. Hi. Hello.

Q: How's it going?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good. Good. I have a guest with me.

Q: How are you?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi, hi. A lot of new faces and old faces.

Okay. I'm -- I'm going to have a topper, and then I'm going to hand it over to the secretary in a second. So, here we go.

Today, we are celebrating good news for the American people. Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, jobs and wages are up, while unemployment and inflation are down.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the president will discuss the actions the Biden-Harris administration is taking to sustain the historic gains we have made for American workers.

He will visit a pipefitting training center to meet the union members and sign an executive order to help ensure that the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda continues to promote good, high-quality jobs with paths to the Middle East -- to the Middle East? -- to middle class. Oh, my gosh. You can see where my head is. Pardon me. Middle class.

The event is part of a broader tour to profile the workers and communities across America that are re- -- reaping the rewards of the Biden-Harris administration's Investing in America agenda.

I'm joined today, as you can see to my right, by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who will speak more about the President's commitment to creating high-quality jobs.

One last thing, and I know you guys look forward to these. We have a week ahead -- a little bit of a week ahead. Next week will be a very busy week. Here are just a few things that I can highlight at this time.

On Tuesday, the president will welcome two champion- -- championship teams to the White House: the University of South Carolina's women's basketball team and the UConn's men's basketball team.

On Wednesday, the president and the vice president will travel together to Ground Zero in New York City; to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and to the Pentagon in Virginia to honor the -- and to honor and remember the victims of the September 11th terror attacks.

I will also note that next week is the anniversary of the Violence Against Women's Act, and we will certainly be lifting that up at the White House.

And with that, Secretary --

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Thank you so much, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: -- the floor is yours.

ACTING SECRETARY SU: It's so nice to be here with all of you.

As you all know, since day one, President Biden pledged to be the most pro-worker, pro-union president this country has ever seen, and it's a promise that we're delivering on every day.

The two things that we're talking about today, the steady jobs report and the president's executive order, are really evidence of that.

The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that there were 142,000 jobs created last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down. That brings us -- continues the longest stretch of such a low unemployment rate for the longest time since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.

We don't just care about the number of jobs, although that's a good news story, we also care about the quality of those jobs, making sure the jobs are, as the president often says, more than a paycheck -- that the jobs are safe, that they offer real security, the ability to retire with dignity, the ability to build your future, and the right to join a union.

So, the executive order that the president will sign today is about making sure that our immense federal investments are creating those kinds of good jobs and doing things through tools like project labor agreements, community benefits agreements, equal pay, high safety and job standards, as well as union -- union work, union contracts.

So, the executive order really institutionalizes the work that we have been doing and ensures that as we go forward, as more investments hit the ground, that the result of that is not only the outcomes we want in terms of physical infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing, the like, but also good jobs for -- for America's workers.

And that's why we're really proud to be heading to Michigan today to -- to talk about these jobs and the work w- -- we're doing -- we're going to keep doing to -- to make sure those are the kind of jobs that get created.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Awesome. Go ahead.

Q: I guess my first question would be why -- someone else can go first. I --

My first question would be why -- why -- in this executive order, have you all analyzed what kinds of union jobs these -- this could be incentivizing? Or is it just -- or is there any particular sector that you believe this is going to most impact?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: I mean, you know, we are seeing a moment in this country where there's a new era of worker power, really, and that's -- that crosses multiple industries -- right? -- from health care to hospitality to Hollywood; construction workers, obviously; manufacturing and new industries more -- right? -- clean energy, for example.

And so, we are not specifically naming certain industries. We're basically saying that the investments that are being made right now are creating a boom across the country in -- in many industries. And we see that in the jobs report too.

This last month, it was construction. You know, the last administration had a construction "Infrastructure Week" promise that never materialized. It's become a punchline. We're -- we've invested in infrastructure decade.

Health care grew this last month. We saw the last administration, in the face of a global pandemic, freeze, not know what to do, did not have a -- have a strategy, and the health care industry was devastated. We've now seen that come back.

So, our -- you know, our commitment to good jobs is -- is in every single industry.

Q: What did --

Q: Do you see this --

Q: Go ahead.

Q: Do you see this as kind of an insurance policy in case former President Trump is elected -- that, you know, to sort of secure the -- the unionization gains to ensure -- I mean, how does that work, in practice, if the next president comes in -- if it is Trump, comes in and -- and revokes that order?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: I mean, so, as you know, I can't talk about the election in my official capacity. But it is very important for there to be a pro-worker, pro-union administration in office if we want to make sure that these investments continue to benefit communities.

And the other thing about the jobs report is real wages continue to go up. And, in fact, wage growth has exceeded the rate of inflation. That means more money in the pockets of working families.

So, we know what -- that what we're doing works. We see it in the jobs numbers, and we see it when we go on the ground -- places, you know, where we're going now. And so, our -- our job is to keep on doing this work. And certainly, in the next several months, we're going to see a lot more federal investments hit the ground, and we want to make sure that the impact on workers is positive.

(Cross-talk.)

Q: What -- go ahead. Go ahead.

Q: I just have a follow-up on that. So, how do you ensure that there -- you know, how do you institutionalize the policies that you've pursued as an administration, whether it's, you know, opening the door to more unionization in sectors that have been resistant to that --

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Yeah.

Q: -- pri- --

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Well, two answers to that: One is that we are seeing workers organize in industries and in regions of the country that many people thought were unorganizable or difficult to organize. You know, I was in Fort Valley, Georgia, with workers who are building our next-generation electric school busses. I was in Anniston, Alabama, you know, in facilities where working people -- largely Black workforces -- are now in union jobs where they're getting 40 percent wage increases.

This is not happening by accident. It's happening because the president and this administration have been so full-throated in its support of why unions are not just good for workers but good for industry and good for the economy.

But the other answer is, you know, we've already heard what's going to happen if the other guy wins the election. So, you know, policies like executive orders can be reversed. We want these investments to be decades-long investments, and the private sector is looking for that too.

And so, you know, the answer to that is that we can -- we -- we will keep on going for as long as we can keep going. And -- and, you know, we know that this works, so people have a choice to make.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Zolan.

Q: Amid the job numbers today, can you describe how much of a challenge workforce shortages still are? We've been talking to companies throughout the past couple years who have said there's a lot of money available, but there's not a lot -- enough people to actually hire.

And then just second question: Can you describe the administration's involvement in the collective bargaining talks with Boeing right now as well?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: So, we don't talk about workforce shortages. We think about these as good-job shortages. So, the more good jobs that are created, the more we see workers come into the labor force, right? The -- we -- we've seen in a tight labor market, workers do have more ability to choose, and that has resulted in employers having to become employers of choice -- right? -- in order to -- in order to recruit a workforce that they want.

Those are all really fundamental to this administration's vision that you can build an economy where workers come first, and that's good for everybody. So, you know, wh- -- and -- and we are continuing to build what I call an "opportunity infrastructure," connecting people to the good jobs they want and need, employers to people they want and need. We need roads and bridges to do that too. We've been building that.

On the negotiations, you know, we continue to support the collective bargaining process. We know the parties are still at the table. We're, you know, in touch with the parties and encourage them to keep on -- keep on negotiating and -- and reach a fair contract.

Q: Do we seem likely heading towards a strike or --

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Here's what I'll say, especially from having been at the table a lot over the last couple of years: The parties always seem far apart until they're not. And so, as long as they are bargaining, as long as there's a mutual desire to get to the other side, we think that's a good thing.

Q: Can I ask you about congressional Republicans who say that more than $32 billion in pandemic unemployment fraud in California on your watch there should not be -- the bill should not be footed by the federal government. What's your response to that?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Yeah. So, there is no fraud that we are seeking to, you know, forgive or waive or anything else. You know, we take fraud very seriously and are, you know, continuing to put in place an unemployment insurance system that is going to work better than the one that we had, you know, in the last administration, because there was no national strategy. So, there's no effort to -- to forgive any kind of fraud.

Q: Just to clarify, the $32 billion will not be covered by the federal government?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: There's no -- it -- I don't know that -- that particular figure. There's just no frau- -- there's no forgiveness of any fraud payments that were being made. We are pursuing every avenue to recover funds and to crack down on fraud and send a clear message that there's no room for fraud in the system.

Q: Can I get an update on U.S. Steel? Has the CFIUS recommendation hit the president's desk? And is there any concern about what happens if it remains under U.S. ownership and gets broken up into pieces? Is that a -- an outcome that the president would be comfortable with? And is there anything he can do to help those workers or help U.S. Steel remain intact?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'll -- I'll start it off. We don't have any news to make. The CFIUS -- obviously, this is a -- CFIUS is independent. It's a process under them. We have not -- they have not transmitted or provided their decision. And so, we don't have anything to share at this time.

And I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals here. We just got to let CFIUS do their -- do their job and do their work, and I'm just not going to get ahead of that.

I don't know if you want anything to add to that.

ACTING SECRETARY SU: My answer is going to be similar.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

ACTING SECRETARY SU: It's premature, I think, to -- to speculate about any of those things.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right.

Q: Can I ask one more question --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, sure.

Q: -- about housing?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay.

Q: So, I realize you're the labor secretary, but a lot of these investments that companies are making require housing for workers in those centers. So, are you seeing that posing a challenge? Because, of course, it takes time to -- to build the housing that would house workers around --

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Yeah.

Q: -- new plants, especially in greenfield sites.

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Yeah. I'll approach this from the position of the acting labor secretary, which is to say that one reason why we are so committed to creating good jobs in this -- in the country is that it shouldn't be so difficult for a worker to make a decent living and afford to live near where they work. Right?

That is why it's -- the executive order and -- and the focus on good jobs and, you know, breathing room, as the president says, for -- for working families is so key.

Q: So, this executive order, does it -- is it -- I mean, what specifically do you think will address the housing question there?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Yeah. I mean, you've heard -- right? -- this is sort of -- you know, sort of out- -- outside of my lane. But we -- we recognize that the cost of housing remains a challenge for -- for working people.

And, again, from my perspective -- right? -- making sure that workers don't have to work full time, year round, and still live in poverty, don't have to work multiple jobs just to get by is a part of how we ensure real security for workers.

Q: Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Anyone else? Anybody else?

Q: Karine, wondering if -- outside of the NSC statement, if the White House or the president has any response --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hold on one second. There's no one -- anything -- anything else for the secretary?

ACTING SECRETARY SU: Thank you all.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Thank you so much.

Q: Thank you so much. Thank you.

Q: Thanks for coming.

ACTING SECRETARY SU: No problem.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go -- go ahead. I'm sorry.

Q: That's okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just didn't want her standing around --

Q: All good.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: -- if it -- if you guys were -- were done.

Q: I'm wondering if -- outside of the NSC statement, if the White House or the president has any reaction to the American citizen killed in the West Bank.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we are deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen, Ay- -- Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank, and our hearts go out to, obviously, her families and -- and loved ones.

We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the -- the incident.

You guys may know or may not know -- I'm not sure, because we were up in the air -- Secretary Blinken actually addressed this as well. He did a press conference in Dominican Republic. And so, I refer you to -- to his -- his comments.

Q: Hey. So, on that issue --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Inaudible.)

Q: -- the president of -- I'm sorry.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q: The president of Turkey has said that he considers it "the murder." This woman was a U.S.-Turkish citizen, and he -- he described it as a deliberate murder by the Israeli government. Has the president reached out to President Erdo?an?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q: Has there been any contact with the Turkish government on this? And do you see this as undermining, you know, the kind of loose, you know, consensus or -- I mean, you know, or furthers --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q: -- you know, exacerbating tensions over the Gaza war anyway?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I -- I'm going to really -- there's a couple of things that Secretary Blinken said related to your question. As I said, Secretary Blinken was -- was in the Dominican Republican and -- and addressed this.

And he said, "First things first, let's find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that." "When we have more information, we will share it, make it available, and, as necessary, we'll act on it." And that's something else that he said.

And I would say, lastly -- and this is coming from the secretary; this is also something that the president truly believes -- is that they have no -- no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens, wherever they are around the world. And certainly, that is something that the president believes.

I don't want to get ahead of anything here. We are calling for an investigation. We got to let the process play out, as the secretary said himself moments ago. And so, I'm just going to leave it there. I just don't want to get into hypotheticals.

As you know, as it relates to the ceasefire deal, the hostage deal, this is something that the president's team, including, obviously, Secretary Blinken, is working around the clock on. We want to get this done. We -- he wants to make sure that this war ends but also that we get those hostages, which include American hostages, and get that -- more aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza.

And so, that is a priority. That is a must. And we're certainly -- there's a even more sense of urgency, if you will, in getting that done. And so, we want to focus on that as well. But I don't want to get ahead of -- of this investigation. We're going --

Q: What about reaching out to the Turks?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything to -- to speak to about a conversation or a potential outreach. You heard from the secretary, you heard from us, you heard from me, and I think I'm just going to leave it there for now.

Q: Does -- does the administration trust the Israeli government to investigate this themselves, or should there be some kind of independent oversight of this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, we're asking for investigation. I'm not going to get into -- into s- -- into -- more into that -- into, like, specifics beyond that, I should say. But we're asking investigation. We are in conversations. I just don't have anything else to share. I don't have anything more.

Q: Two -- two questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q: Does -- does the president have a position on whether IVF should be made free for parents, either by government insurance mandate or government payment, as it's become an issue in the election?

And separately, Republicans are saying that Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to avoid a courtroom airing of his father's involvement in these business relationships. Do you have a response to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, two very different questions. Let me get to the first one that you just asked.

Look, the reason why we are in a situation where IVF is now under attack, which shouldn't be -- and you've heard us talk about this -- and I'm going to be careful. I'm not talking about the campaign. I'm talking about more broadly and what this president and this administration, obviously, including the vice president, has fought for.

We have fought since the -- since Dobbs decision was overturned and it took away -- it took away something that was the law, which is the Do- -- which is -- which is Roe v. Wade, which was the law for almost 50 years. It took that away. It took women's freedoms away.

And the fact that we have our children who are now growing up with less rights than we had when we were growing up is shameful. And so, we've been very clear. We want to make sure that we protect the right -- the right of a woman to make her own personal decisions about her health care with her family.

And what we're seeing from Republicans over and over again is that they want to do more. They want to take it a step further. They want a national ban on abortion, and we are not for it.

We want to protect -- protect the rights of -- of women to make that decision. I'm not going to go beyond that. We've been very, very clear on where we stand on this.

As it relates to the -- the second question you asked me, look, Hunter is a private citizen. You heard me say this plenty of times. So, when it comes to his own legal circumstances, I'm going to have to refer you to his own legal team, his own personal representa- -- representatives. And I just don't have anything to comment --

Q: Was the president involved in the decision to plead?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I -- I don't have anything to comment. He is a private citizen. I've been very clear about this. He makes -- this is his decision to make. I'm just not going to comment on -- on the last 24 hours. I'm going to be very clear. And we've been very consistent with that. Nothing new here.

Q: Can you say something about what the president -- I mean, wheth- -- you know, where the president was when he heard the news? Like, just any kind of color around his reaction.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Don't have any color. I don't have any color.

Q: I think it was yesterday you were asked about a report around the administration considering a change to the asylum restrictions --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q: -- at the border. And on a follow-up, you were asked, "Will there be any change?" And you said, "Nothing expected soon." By "change," did you mean they will not be lifted coming soon or that they're actually -- like, a change could also be that they will become more strict and --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just -- I don't have anything else. I don't have anything else. As you know, it's being looked at. I'm just going to be -- I'm not --

Q: What's being looked at?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I -- I just don't have anything else to say. I don't have anything else to say. I'm going to just leave it there.

Q: Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region was a distraction and a mistake. Does the administration support still the Ukrainian military's incursion into that territory?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, here's what I can say -- is that, look, what we have seen for more than two years now is Russia's aggression into a sovereign territory, into Ukraine. And it is something that we have been very clear is wrong. It is something that we've been very clear that we will continue to have the back of the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom, as they fight for their democracy.

And the president has been pretty steadfast. He's gotten more than 50 countries to back that, to support Ukraine as they continue to fight very bravely for their democracy. And that is what matters.

And here's the thing -- and you've heard my NSC colleagues say this, you've heard the president say this -- this could end today. The war in Ukraine that Russia's aggression, Russia started, could end today if Mr. Putin would decide to end the war that he started. He started this war, and we cannot forget how we got to this place today.

Go ahead. Yeah.

Q: And then several human rights agencies and -- and news organizations have recently highlighted some of the more recent atrocities that have taken place in Sudan. Can you all clarify what your policy is towards the civil war and conflict that's taking place in that country at the moment?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I think we've talked about this before, and, you know, we'll continue to be pretty -- pretty steadfast. We have been unequivocal about our position towards the senseless war in Sudan. This is on the hands of the leaders of the SAF and the RSF, and we condemn the ongoing horrific violence in the strongest terms.

The belligerents may want war, but the Suda- -- Sudanese people do not. Since the conflict erupted, the United States has worked to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance, committing over $1 billion to these efforts, and use sanctions against per- -- perpetators -- perpetrators -- pardon me -- of the conflict.

It's a little bumpy up here. (Laughs.)

We will continue to push all parties to come to a negotiated settlement that allows the Sudanese people to shape their political future.

It's -- I think we have to sit down now. It's a little bumpy.

Q: Is --

Q: Karine, can you just say real quickly --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yep.

Q: -- where the president is going to watch the debate?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I can -- I think I confirmed yesterday in the gaggle that the president is very proud of the vice president. He will be watching the debate. I don't have anything beyond --

Q: From the White House, or is he --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything beyond that. We'll certainly have more to share next week. I gave you a little bit of color of what next week is going to look like. I just don't have anything to share.

Q: Karine, is anyone from the West Wing with the VP while she's in Pittsburgh, helping her with debate prep?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You're going to have to -- you're literally going to have to talk to the campaign. They could speak to that.

Q: But from the West Wing? From -- from -- like, from --

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: From our side of things?

Q: -- your side? Yeah, over there.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Of our side of things, not anyone that I know of.

Q: Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: But you would have to -- it's a campaign debate. So, you would have to -- obviously, a debate for the campaign. You have to ask her. But not that I know of.

Q: Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right, everybody. Please sit down. It's really bumpy -- really bumpy. We're about to land.

2:01 P.M. EDT