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♪ ♪ >> we are just under 15 minutes away from today's white house press briefing. it may be one of the final times that we see white house press secretary karine jean-pierre at the white house podium. this briefing comes after the explosive new reporting out of "the wall street journal" on a diminished biden and how white house aides hid in that apparent mental decline from day one. during a grueling congressional find to avoid a government shutdown where biden has been -- you guessed it, am i a prayer shutdown is set to begin at midnight if lawmakers don't get a deal done. another vote on a slimmed-down d.o.g.e. approved the deal failed last night. republicans are set to discuss the path forward during a closed-door meeting in about 30 minutes. is going talk of the spending deal being split into three separate smaller bills. hello, everyone. this is between one. i am emily compagno.

joining me today, dagen mcdowell, fox business anger and cohost of "the bottom line," tommy newman, and host of tomi lahren is fearless on a cake. michelle -- most of the michele tafoya podcast. in paul mauro, fox news contributor, attorney a dominant retired nypd inspector. live on capitol hill with the latest. >> i think we are on plan c or d. it's a different version of a plan that started yesterday. i can tell you there is some good news like you mentioned there has been some movement. we are expecting the house g.o.p. conference to meet at 12:30. this is where g.o.p. leadership will present them this new idea to fund the government. yes, you are right. it will be split up into three different separate bills with three different separate votes for the first will be on a clean cr to fund the government.

that is a continuing resolution. the second will be on disaster relief. this is extremely important for the states that were hit by hurricane helene and melted. the third will be to extend the farm aid at a lot of senators in farming states wanted where they will act on the debt ceiling issue later. they will act on that for reconciliation. that was a big hang up for president-elect trump. he wanted the debt ceiling dealt with now while senate democrats were still in control of the senate. remember last night, johnson tried a skinny cr on the house floor with a debt ceiling. that turned out to be a poison pill. he lost 38 republicans to that. that's a no-go. they head into a g.o.p. conference and will talk is over. if they can get everyone on board. if they can get all republicans to agree to this plan, they split up planet, they can actually do this through a regular process. put this through the rules. put it on the floor and do it

through a simple majority. it would be a little bit slower of a process. they would avoid what happen last night -- which is what they have to do it for a suspension vote. that requires democratic votes. you have to meet the two-thirds majority. that is what local is at this point, to get all republicans on board and pass this thing and send it over to the senate. >> that is no easy feat. thank you for keeping us informed. obviously, we will be checking in on you shortly. incoming president trump is already flexing his political muscle in congress even before taking office officially. forcing congress to revamp the spending bill, throwing a wrench in washington's same old ways of doing business. which is arguably what we all indeed voted for. voters headed to the polls with 70% believing that the country was on the wrong track in seeking something different. most wanted a change in how the country is run.

83% of americans said that the country needs substantial changes or more specifically, paul mauro, a total of people. and it looks like maybe that is what is happening. that is good news. >> it is good news. rarely do you get to see the issues that were implicated in our election get put so on point so quickly. this is that battle that everybody fought for. let's make quick points. democrats are blowing it. they're already reverting to the failed campaign points that didn't work in the lead up as an extreme maga republicans. it didn't work the first time. if i was the republicans, i would co-opt that term and say majority of america, extreme maga republicans doing what you take away that card. i would say for the republicans, they should try to do something here to put a very fine point on the battle. pick a couple of things that have particularly been egregious or cut through the noise. things like justice involved individuals as opposed to

criminals. things like that. big raises, pieces of estate -- they wanted to blacklist "the new york post" or disinformation. cut through the noise and let us see what they are trying to do. last point real quick. a lot of this is an accident. this is a "new" proposal that is coming out right now. i don't think musk and trump thought they would get a two-thirds vote and grab all the democrats to come on board with this. this is gamesmanship. they saw all of this coming. nobody would believe that would've happened. let's see how this plays out. there is a plan. >> let's talk about that for a second. there's only so much patience that we have. we can throw up on the screen, there is almost a 20% plummeting and america's approval of congress from 36% back then to a mere 19% health. to paul's point, they better get their act together. >> they absolutely must get their act together. a large swath of the country are

now members of the shut it down caucus. since the election, we have found out that fewer than 1 out of 10 federal government workers report into the office on a full-time basis. 6% show up in person every day. only one-third are entirely remote. only one-third. the american people do not care if federal government employees don't get paid. let the democrats are doing -- also, they care about that $36 trillion in debt. but the democrats are trying to do to paul's point. we heard jamie raskin, brad sherman referring to president musk. there never was and never will be president hillary clinton riding that the g.o.p. is taking orders from the world's richest man. they are trying to drive is your and divide president trump from

elon musk. it won't work because it highlights the fact that the democrats still don't know why they lost. still are in completely out of touch with the american people and are throwing any and all not at the wall just to see what sticks. >> talk to me about trump's involvement in this standing back a little bit. also elon musk getting heavily involved. talk to me about the strategy and what that signals about the kind of president he will be this term. being when it feels like he is already president. i understand the republicans are going to be in control very shortly. i understand that joe biden is a lame duck by our joe biden and kamala harris absent from this conversation if we are going to front of the federal government? shouldn't the people who are supposedly running the federal government be involved. kamala harris, if you want a shot at 2028, now's your chance to put yourself in a leadership role that put yourself in a position to at least look like you are in charge of something instead of just letting a cam jeffries do it all. i understand they want to go on

vacation. everybody does. the average american person out there once a total of people. they do not understand all the jargon. they don't understand where the government needs to have a 1500 page bill to fund the government. they don't understand what you can separate needed disaster relief and relief to farmers from all of the other junk they are seeing in a 1500 page bill. they don't understand why they elect these people who are supposedly the best and brightest among us to go to washington, d.c., on our dollar and spend all this money. and you can't get it down to 100 something pages. you can't agree on that and you have to take it to the cusp every single time when you knew this was coming for the average american has no tolerance for this anymore. they can't do it in their household where they don't understand why congress can't do it when they are being elected to do it. you're going to see a lot of american people are going to be okay if the government shuts down. it doesn't feel good for a lot of people that are depending on that. we understand it. something needs to be done here. maybe a complete and epic change is what the american people really want.

>> isn't that the point that this growing pains moment is exactly what we need. we are seeing the collision of the old guard. that is how it has been the 1500 page bill was taken off a shelf. no one rode that overnight. it is the same process, the same preparation for government. now the american people have spoken and said we don't care. we meant what we said. we meant that we build it. get it together. it's almost goodly others bonus season. we are getting a little bit more for our bucket started right away. >> we have seen very clearly into your point of not only are they using the extreme maga republican they meant knowing that at everybody. they are also saying, but, by denying this bill, by not voting -- we are ruining pediatric cancer care. they are trying to paint republicans as evil selfish people. it is part of the old playbook. people know better now. they know better. i find it rich or people like

hillary clinton to be saying, these billionaires are speaking and marrying out of elon musk. i'm sorry. george soros, barack obama, hillary clinton, you are all billionaires. you have been doing this from the sidelines all the time. people want to see change. i think they love that these outsiders of elon and vivek ramaswamy are coming in and shaking the tree and saying, we are not doing it this way anymore. either way, when you have a government shutdown to your point, people get furloughed. you know what? essential government workers stay employed. does that ring a bell anyone? go visit essential workers. >> lawmakers still get paid. >> they do. essential workers will be there. >> can i just add them a continuing resolution is a five page bill that just simply extends existing appropriations. that is it. whatever was in that 1500 plus bill, that is an omnibus bill.

call it what it is. it is an embarrassment. i got shoved in the faces of the republicans will cobble tog together. >> balance the budget and then you get a raise. >> or you lose your job. >> we are awaiting the white house press briefing with press secretary karine jean-pierre expected to begin in just moments. we will take that to you live once it begins. the house leadership meeting is about to start in 20 minutes. they are set to discuss those efforts to fund the government before midnight. a lot of breaking news this hour. keep it right here. more "outnumbered" next.

♪ ♪ >> we are just moments away from today's white house press briefing. we will be listening for any comment about the ongoing fight to fund the government.

we have been hurtling toward a shut down for weeks now. so far, president biden has been missing in action. congressman mike lawler calling them out. speak up by the way, joe biden is still the president of the united states. has anybody heard from joe biden? it is kind of bizarre end of the sitting president of the united states. he says nothing as we are barreling towards a shut down. >> even some democrats think biden has already checked out. >> my last question, do you think that biden has quietly quit? >> no, absolutely not. >> if you don't do that over the next 30 days, i'm going to say he quit. >> the purpose was to announce a $100 billion investment from softbank. it was a standard presidential policy announcement where the main difference being trump isn't president yet. a fact that is getting easier and easier to forget is joe biden seems to be disappearing from the public

stage. as his term comes to an end. >> should the american people be frightened? biden by rule still has the power. in fact out them it is a bunch of faceless people wearing lanyards potentially. this is the most vulnerable time in the presidency where this is a message to the world of our weaknesses in a sense. >> you don't ever want to have a circumstance where the media is literally asking, where is the president? does he know that he is still president? do these drones flying all over the place? he is completely and i when thep guy is m.i.a. can you see this in transitions in cities. evan part of it. the individual departments will run under their own power for a while. after a mile, they start to realize, we are on our own.

we can do what we want. as a result, only 1% of that federal employees are coming to work. lloyd austin goes m.i.a. for two weeks. it's not because he wanted to or he's trying to hide or anything like that. he was a real military man and fell on his sword for that. he did it because i got used to the fact that nobody was looking for him. now it comes out, that was valid. his emails were not getting answered. i'm going to go off and have this operation. that is what has been going on. i love the fact that the democrats are couching this now as a strategy. this is joe biden's strategy. this is the strategy that got him booted off the ticket. and that is the strategy, we are in real trouble. >> the left-wing goals are still pushing that agenda although they are rain is its death thro. today, $4.3 billion in additional student loan forgiveness. that brings it to $180 billion

in a student loan bailout that people who don't have student loan debt are shouldering for nearly 5 million followers. this is after scotus shot it down. that is today. >> the social gestures warriors who are running this country, nobody voted for them. you're giving out thought of credit. recent college grads who have an activist role, they are the ones who were running our country. it is rich. there are a lot of people that are really angry of the cloud in the pull that elon musk is. you're upset that elon musk appears to be the second president next to donald trump. joe biden is completely out of the picture for the same people did not care for the last four years that joe biden is not regularly meeting with his cabinet goodies having to have scripted conversations with his friends that are supposedly serving alongside them. where is your outrage? you are mad at elon musk. you haven't been mad at the man who has been supposedly running

our country for the last four years. it feels like trump is already president, but he's not. the one signing all these pardons and commutations for all these folks, is it joe biden who has this sudden shift of forgiveness for these folks, or something being put in front of him and he signing off of it? you can do a lot of damage as the leader of the free world in the next few weeks. that is really concerning to me. >> there is more wretchedness to come in terms of pardons. the last name will start with a b. >> that's a good point. we are seeing that and seeing student loan forgiveness. i'm laughing at all these democrats are even republicans who are saying, where is joe biden? they should have been asking that question for the last four years. we have seen no and reporting from "the wall street journal" that this man needed help and needed organized naps and organized meetings. we saw this with our own eyes. kamala harris is an empty ve

vessel. honestly, what are they going to accomplish? they have accomplished so little during their administration. to come back now particularly with the massive amount of distrust surrounding both of them, kamala harris didn't hide the fact that biden was not all there. she lied about it. everyone in it orbit lied about it. it's not so much i'm not showing up. he never did show up. >> one thing that we didn't mention is that 2,000 troops that are in syria that we just found out about. >> this is our current commander in chief. i don't forget that for one second. lord knows, neither do the families of all of those soldiers and all of those that operate in the shadows day in and day out. there are plenty of people under that person's watch. i agree with you that the most frightening part is there is a molecule of opacity that we don't know about.

they publish it every day all day. we get to see what they are uncovering in real time we get to see you get to see it -- all the things. that a sound government should work. the entire current administration hallmarks that we never knew what was going on. the 50 sources that came out in "the wall street journal" absolutely explosive expose frankly. some of them are named in terms of who was filling in for the big guy. many weren't. you're absolutely right. he did read the facts. if he did, he would know for example about the nonviolent felonies, some of which were associated with murders. all it takes is reading the second half of the chargers to know the insurance fraud was connected to a triple homicide. all they are doing, these guys are flocking toward -- cannibalizing the puranas, the far side cartoon where they are flocking to the body and signing letters ever put in front of

him. that is our current commander in chief. >> first lady jill biden reportedly wants revenge on the democrats who pushed joe biden aside. that story next. when you're in the military you're really close with your brothers and your sisters that are in the military with you. and when you get out of the military, you kind of lose that until you find a new family. we can talk about our struggles and the things that we did overseas and not everybody can do that. adam! how's it going, brother? we live pretty close to each other. so he's always coming over. when i go to jack's house, we watch a lot of football, hang out. we go outside the friendship has kind of grown into a family i was overseas on a deployment. i got separated from my marines and i got hit in the neck, and it broke my neck and paralyzed me. 14 years ago, i was on a training mission. did a military freefall, and i had some faulty equipment.

i hit the ground. going, 30 to 40 knots and was instantly paralyzed. i met jack fanning when he invited us to park city, utah, through his foundation. i was able to actually get on the mountain and ski with my family, i can't put into words what that meant. i got paid in the military to do crazy fun stuff. and after my accident, i'm still that same guy. and when i was able to jump out of a perfectly good, helicopter, at 10,000 feet, i did it. i was talking to some vets last week amazing how we have these houses where they can come over because they■re in chairs too. carpet and wheelchairs don't mix very well. tunnel to towers, they got rid of all that. they redid my whole bathroom. that's probably the favorite part of my house. i thought they were just going to do the upgrades. but the surprise to me was they paid off the entire mortgage. when they told me they're going to pay off my mortgage, i cried.

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♪ ♪ >> a new report claims first lady jill biden is seeking revenge for democrats poor treatment of president biden. from the coup to take biden out of the presidential race to the backlash of his son hunter's pardon, the first lady is reportedly urging president biden to "settle the score was glowed with several one-time allies. "jill views democrats on capitol hill, the wider party, the obama's step inside and outside the white house, the

media, and all of washington, d.c., with such misguided resentment that i can't imagine she isn't encouraging joe to burn the whole thing down despite his better judgment." ye's people and michelle, it mas you wonder if jill planted butter or grease on the steps that nancy pelosi recently slipped on. if she got there first and oiled the steps so that nancy might fall and break her hip. did anyone think that? we kid, we kid. they are so concerned about his legacy right now. they continue to diminish it with the student loans, with the pardons in the commutations, with all of these things that they continue to do and say. it was politifact the other day that said the biggest lie of the year for 2024 was trump's advance and saying that patient

immigrants were eating pets. weifair that is the lie of the year? not i will not pardon my son. not joe biden is as sharp as that tech? a haitian immigrant lie is so consequential. saying that biden was on his game wasn't consequential? this is a dishonest administration. everything around it is. >> i'm not suggesting that you know something about revenge. >> it is in my dna. >> however, this doesn't seem potentially off-base to suggest the anchor inside of the executive orders. >> iif you take longevity as any indication of actuality, we have been hearing since before this president was president that jill biden had a massive issue with kamala harris. she carried a chip on her shoulder for the offense as she

took on behalf of her husband that frequently throughout the entire four years and prior to that, she took personal hubris and how her husband was treated were sd about him. it is no secret that she was the gas behind the vehicle of having him around again. he shoulders a ton of the ego blame, but there was definitely when you talked about how the agencies can run on their own for quite a while or at least for some time without truly a leader, i don't know if he would've declared for a second term frankly. i think given the volume and energy on her side, it was clear that the gas was coming from h her. yes it makes sense that the anger is shouldered by her as well. we saw although wearing red. i do think she voted for trump. i think she is gleeful that kamala didn't win as is her husband. >> she essentially ran the last cabinet meeting. there had to be someone -- it

had to be a jill biden propping joe biden up for the last several years. i sat on the sofa, not last july, but july last year talking about, we could see that he was in cognitive decline. any american could see what was going on. >> she spent time with him morning, noon, and night. she knew better than anybody the cognitive decline. she saw it and didn't care. let's think about the rest of jill biden's life. she spent the last four years -- really probably the last 15 years or more being able to fly around the world, being greeted as some kind of an honorable figure. she's going to be a former first lady. she's had a meal ticket with the biden family business whatever that entails. think about the rest of her life. pushing probably joe biden around in a wheelchair having to tend to his needs. she is angry not that the

democratic party. she's angry that this is over for her and bitter about it. i watched enough "housewives" exactly to know what jill biden is thinking. the hatred that all have her glamour and esteem is going to go away. she's not going to go out without making some waves. >> guess who knows soon to be former first family might have to live with in delaware. hunter. >> yikes. i would be bitter. >> any street cop will tell you. it's a lot easier to get in the middle of two guys fighting men to women fighting. apparently, jill really has it is for nancy. i want details. byrne went down? you lost the house and the senate. there's nothing left to burn. right now, the uss democratic party has slipped beneath the waves. there's nothing really left here. i don't know where all this is coming from.

it scans to me like a fight in the day room. really, what are they fighting about? pelosi, jill biden? >> a lot of shin taking. happening right now, house republicans are holding a closed-door meeting as both sides of the aisle work toward an agreement to fund our government before tonight's deadline. we are on it. we will bring you updates as we get them. next, a civil rights organization is offering advice to blue states and cities on how illegal migrants can evade the incoming speech in administration's plan for massive deportations.

>> white house press secretary karine jean-pierre holding a press roofing now talking about possible shutdown. but of course, blaming republicans and a speaker at mike johnson saying, it is his mess to fix peerless end. >> secretary jean-pierre: and the president -- let me just take a step back. this is not the first time we have been here. the president has had this approach before. he understand how congress works. he's been around for some time. he understand what strategy works here to get this done. this is not the first time i'm being asked this question about the president and his outreach. i just mentioned he made two calls. he was in touch with their leader, the democratic leaders on both the house and the senate when schumer and jeffries. his team is continuing to have that conversation. this is the mess that was created by speaker johnson. he needs to fix this. that is what the american people need to be very clear about. there was a bipartisan agreement.

he is not holding up his side of the bargain. >> why aren't we hearing that directly from the president? why haven't we seen or heard from president biden? >> this is a strategy we have done many times before. not the first time. this is for republicans in congress in the house specifically to fix. they created this mess. there was a bipartisan agreement. there was. there was a bipartisan agre agreement. >> reporter: to come in front of cameras and speak directly -- >> secretary jean-pierre: there was a bipartisan agreement. but we wanted to do and what the president wants to make sure we do is he stands ready to help get a bipartisan deal through. that is what he wants to see. you know, this is something that republicans should own here. what they tried to jam at the 11th hour doesn't reflect what

the deal -- what the bipartisan deal that they came up with. obviously with democrats. and you know, they are showing -- republicans are showing a disregard for the american people. >> some leading democrats are calling elon musk "president musk" or "copresident musk." what is the reaction to whether or not house republicans are listening more to this billionaire than the president? >> secretary jean-pierre: congressional republicans at the direction -- you all know this. president trump and elon musk are trying to pave the way but what they are doing is trying to pave the way for a $5 trillion to our national debt. that is what this decision does. i mean, you are talking about cuts for billionaires, slashing social security, slashing medicare, slashing head start. congressional republicans did what they did because of what

the president-elect said and what elon musk said. that is the reality. you guys have all reported this. that is why we are where we are today. this is for speaker johnson to fix. this is the mess that he created. he needs to fix this. a bipartisan agreement. there is a bipartisan agreement. >> reporter: where the president support a fourville strategy that, that we have seen discussed today to separate each cr from a -- >> secretary jean-pierre: i'm not going to get into hypotheticals. i'm going to get very repetitive because it is true and it needs to be said. there is a bipartisan agreement. there is a deal that was agreed upon. that is what they need to move forward with. when i mean they know i mean the republicans in congress. they need to move forward with that deal. that is what they said. the deal that was agreed upon, that is what they said they

would move forward with that. the speaker said that. he's not holding up his side of the bargain. his side of the deal, he's not holding up. >> reporter: and respond to president-elect trump, this is a biden problem that republicans can help solve it, but you said but in response to that. >> secretary jean-pierre: congressional republicans made their decision because of what the president-elect said them at their direction, the direction of the president-elect and the right direction and elon musk. there was a bipartisan deal on the table. the speaker agreed to do this to move forward with a bipartisan deal. they stopped that because of what the president-elect said and what elon musk said. they wanted to clear a way for their billionaire friends, a tax cut. 5 trillion to the national debt with tax cuts to billionaires for billionaires.

that is the reality. you all reported this. we have seen this. we saw what was being stated and what was being put out there by the president-elect and elon musk. there is no hiding from that. that is the reality. and so, you know, we are talking about -- this is not politics here. we are talking about the american people who need these programs, who need it. and so, political playbook had to say about this. "trump picked the fight." he picked the fight. and it was trump. with him and elon musk who sank the bipartisan deal. that is what you all are reporting. you can't twist the facts or change history here. >> reporter: based on the white house assessment on capitol hill, should americans be prepared for the government to shut down? >> secretary jean-pierre: there is still time. we believe there is still time for that to happen for

republicans to do the right thing, to hold up their part of the deal and move forward with a bipartisan agreement. there is still time. our focus is keeping the government open. that is what we want to see. we hope republicans want to do that. republicans in congress want to do that as well. there is still time. >> reporter: we talked about how the president has not really been a player at all in these negotiations. what exactly is the strategy behind that? is there a sense that perhaps having an involved in this moment when do more harm than good? >> secretary jean-pierre: i took this question and got some formulation of this question moments ago. the president knows how to deal with congress. he's been around for some time as you know now. this is not the first time where we have had this strategy where we have said is congress -- one of their number one job is to keep the government open. in this particular instance, we saw what republicans did with

speaker johnson obviously leading us to this mess to where we are right now. and they need to fix it, period. it is their best to fix. there was a deal. a bipartisan deal. there was. just days ago. and they created this mess. speaker johnson needs to fix this. republicans in congress needs to fix this. it is there mess to fix. they allow this bipartisan deal to be scuttled by the president-elect. >> as i government shuts down for a period of time, what president biden commit to remain in washington -- >> secretary jean-pierre: i can't get into hypotheticals. i don't have anything to share on this. we believe as i said moments ago, there is still time to get to a deal or move forward. move forward with the bipartisan agreement. they can avoid a shut down. they can. they were on their way to doing that. it was scuttled by the

president-elect and elon musk. this is why we are here today. that is why we are here today. okay. >> reporter: you said that house speaker mike johnson needs to fix this. has president biden spoke into the house speaker or does he have any new plans to? >> secretary jean-pierre: i'm going to answer it now. we have to be really clear. speaker johnson created this mess. he needs to fix it. i don't have anything else to add. the speaker knows how to fix this. they got to a bipartisan deal. he said he was going to move forward with it. they stopped it because of the direction that they were given by the president-elect and elon musk. right now, we need to focus, and we need to continue to focus on the american people. we are talking about shutting down the government that will impact veterans programs. services that americans truly need. they know how to fix this. republicans actually know how to fix this. that is why they were able to

get a bipartisan agreement on the table. they know in order to move forward with this, you need a bipartisan agreement. there was one. they did not move forward with it because of what they were told by president-elect trump and also elon musk. >> i will go with the question another way. >> secretary jean-pierre: that president is the president of the united states. he is leading. to be very clear as it relates to this, i've said many times before moments ago and i will say it again. and on the strategy before. this is not new. we have said congress needs to deal with this. their number one job is to get the government open. there was an agreement on the table. not just an agreement from a bipartisan agreement. speaker johnson created this mess. he needs to fix it, period. >> the strategy is he is leading by staying in the background. >> republicans in particular need to do their jobs and get

out of their own way and focus on the american people, not their billionaire friends. that is what needs to happen. that is what the president wants to see. split fell back you know where the president stands on this. his focus right now is keeping the government open. that is what he is going to focus on. >> reporter: a vice president canceled her trip to california. can you say why? >> secretary jean-pierre: i can't speak to that. >> reporter: on syria really quickly, the dod said there were sya.t 2,000 u.s. troops in that is double what the administration has said before hand. why the discrepancy? >> secretary jean-pierre: i would have to refer you to the department of defense to speak to troop numbers. that is their purview. that is something we have been consistent on that they have to speak to. i said yesterday that the additional forces are considered temporary. they are deployed to meet shifting mission requirements. i have to leave it to the

department of defense to the pentagon to speak to troops. >> reporter: you have tried to answer it several times. shouldn't americans here from the president of the united states just hours from shutdown? >> secretary jean-pierre: what americans need to know is that you have republicans in congress in the house who stopped a bipartisan agreement. they got in the way. they created this mess. and i said this earlier when i said -- you all know this. you reported this. it's not easy to get to a bipartisan agreement here in this town. and there was one. both sides of sat down. they came to an agreement -- which is a good thing for the american people. we thought we were moving in that direction. they decided -- republicans decided to instead listen and give space to their billionaire friends. and not that the american people

first. that is what is happening. that is what we are seeing. >> reporter: i wondered if you could give us an update on the purchase of u.s. steel. excuse me, the doing that transaction expected to show his recommendation soon. i'm wondering if you had any update on the timing. also, is the president prepared -- recommendation regardless of what they are? >> secretary jean-pierre: i'm not going to get ahead of the president. i don't have any announcement to make. and so, i am just going to leave it there. i don't have anything to share. i don't have an announcement to make it this time. i'm certainly not going to get ahead of the president. that is a review. they are independent. we leave it to them to make that decision on the timing. i just don't have anything to share. >> reporter: can you talk a little bit more about the president's trip next month to italy? you said that he had accepted

the invitation of the pope to visit next month. out of that come about? and that happened on the phone call yesterday? in the present and express interest to the vatican? it's pretty late and they turn to be traveling so close to the end like that. >> secretary jean-pierre: i would have to talk to the team about the timeline. the president is looking forward to going back to italy as you all know. he's been there a couple of times in his first term in this term. he has met obviously a couple of times in this administration alone with his holiness pope francis. he obviously looks forward to that. as you know, he is a proud catholic. that is something that he certainly was looking forward to that and having a conversation about peace around the world. that is an issue that his holiness cares about. i don't have specifics or behind the scenes private conversations of how this landed and the timing of this. but we can share is that it is happening where the president looks forward to it.

we certainly have more to share as we get closer like we normally do. >> reporter: should we expect domestic travel from the president in january? is he going to be doin what january will look like for the president barely don't have anything specific to announce right now. >> reporter: i'm going to try. >> secretary jean-pierre: feel free. >> reporter: the american people really haven't heard from him on whether or not the government is going to shut down. wouldn't the message it definitely f the message were out there countering the message from president-elect and elon musk? >> secretary jean-pierre: republicans are breaking their where to supporting bipartisan agreement. we would not be in this position if republicans in the house did not break their word. that is where we are. we are talking about but the

agreement -- when you think about what the agreement would do, it would lower prescription drugs costs and make it harder to offshore jobs to china. we are talking about veterans who need these services. instead, what they want to do is put forth a bill that would pave the way for tax breaks for billionaires. instead of going with a bipartisan agreement, they put forth something that would pave the way for their billionaire friends. that's not about the american people. that is just not about the american people. we have been here before when we are trying to make sure that there is not a government shutdown. the president has had the same strategy. he knows how to work with congress. in this instance, republicans blew this deal up. they did. they blew it up. they need to fix it. this is not for the president to fix. this is not for us to fix. this is for republicans in

congress to fix the mess that they created. >> reporter: as he expressed any thoughts or feelings on the president-elect and elon musk? >> secretary jean-pierre: you are hearing what i am saying, right? i speak for the president of the united states. when i speak for the president of the united states, i am speaking directly for him. you are hearing what he feels about this and what his thoughts are about this. we believe and the american people should know this. republicans need to fix the mess that they cause. the speaker knows how to get this right. to get this right is to move forward with a bipartisan agreement for the bipartisan agreement that they had come to not too long ago. we thought we were going to move forward without agreement. and they blew it up. they blew it up. go ahead. >> reporter: as the government started informing employees who might be furloughed the specific folks heading into the holiday

season, are they being informed that they might not get their paycheck? >> secretary jean-pierre: we believe there is still time for congress to prevent a partial shutdown. we believe that. but in the interest of prudent planning, we want to be prudent. agencies did start notifying their employees of their potential or low today at noon. on that specific as it relates to furloughs, i would refer you to omb on those specifics. >> reporter: given the high stakes of the shutdown during the holiday seasons, veterans, police officers, et cetera, will the president speak to the american people if there is a shutdown? >> secretary jean-pierre: i am not going to get into hypotheticals. we believe in the beginning of answering your last question is that there is still time to prevent a partial shutdown. we believe that congress, republicans in congress could get to a place where they prevent this. >> secretary >> reporter: when is the next time the american people will hear from the president?

>> secretary jean-pierre: it is very easy to fix this. the mess that republicans created. it's very easy for them to fix this. bipartisan deal agreement. move forward. keep your word, republicans in congress. keep your word. keep your word. >> reporter: i have a question on china. in the final month of this administration -- high-level talks between the u.s. and china, last week, as president biden making his final effort to strengthen with china relationship ahead of trump administration? >> that is karine jean-pierre still running the press briefing. we would hope our own jacqui heinrich would get a question. still waiting for that. michelle, do you first on this, your reaction. she is trying to lay the blame on the republicans. going on in congress. >> it was a bipartisan bill which she repeated.

the problem is, vivek ramaswamy did us all of favor and read the bipartisan bill. it was full of a lot of stuff that americans don't want. once that was revealed, people made it very clear, we don't want this. it wasn't about elon or trump. it was about the people who have elected trump who said this bill doesn't comport with what we want to get done. as a lot of waste in here. there's a lot of pork. don't vote for this. to say there was this bipartisan bill, as things go in washington, that is what it was. americans are smarter now. they don't like this kind of legislation. >> she kept referring to the multitrillion dollar tax cut for billionaires that presi president trump, incoming president trump and elon musk are focused on per the original trump tax cut which would be renewed -- which is the focus of what the republicans will do in president trump takes office,

two-thirds of americans got a tax cut. the largest tax cut went to the middle class. that the middle class saw their tax liability drop by twice as much as americans who made more than $1 million. the standard deduction doubled. just to clear up the factual inaccuracies from the podium. >> you congress that but the current administration by inflation, regulations and higher taxes. i am tired. i'm exhausted personally of her repeating the same tired talking points over and over again, casting claims and dispersions. no specificity whatsoever. it is the billionaires fault. there is no substance. you're absolutely right. as soon and jacqui gets her question answered, maybe we will hear some real answers. where has the president been? >> biden and harris and company siphoned off a trillion dollars of cash from the treasury.

>> she has absolutely no answers. i believe her when she says she speaks for the president. because she has nothing to say. that was cringe on a level of the biden debate. all i can say is, thank god the 20th of january is coming, because that was just brutal. just lastly real quick, i don't think they still get the idea that when they invoke musk as somehow of a pejorative come anybody under 35 says the world's richest smartest guy is in this thing? fantastic. >> to your point, elon musk does not benefit from a spending less government money. i think the republicans are smart to hold the line on this. the american people voted for this but hopefully they will get what they asked for. it's time for a total upheaval perhaps. maybe we will be better because of it. >> thanks, ♪ ♪