‘Absolutely Not!’ White House Spox Bristles When Fox Reporter Asks If Biden ‘Bears Responsibility’ For Shutdown

White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young bristled when Fox Business White House correspondent Ed Lawrence asked if President Joe Biden “bears some responsibility” if the government shuts down.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has been trying to blame President Joe Biden for a looming government shutdown and the impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden. But outlets like CNN have pointed out that the White House struck a deal with McCarthy months ago, and the showdown is the result of demands by his fellow Republicans.

Young joined White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at Friday’s White House press briefing, during which Lawrence drew strong objections when he asked if some of the blame for the showdown rests with the president:

ED LAWRENCE: So the Treasury Department now says the federal deficit is at 1.5 trillion. You know, that’s more than the CBO projected. The president’s push, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, he’s pushed, the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue plan he signed into– spending $5.8 trillion over the past two years. Spending is at the heart of this impasse. So does the president bear any responsibility for a shutdown?

SHALANDA YOUNG: Absolutely not! And by the way, the deal was to ensure that we had a fiscally responsible plan. I think the name of the bill was the Fiscal Responsibility Act that saved $1,000,000,000,000 over a decade.

And look if House Republicans want to join us in the Fiscal Reduction Act. I’m happy to talk to them about the tax cuts they have pending and Ways and Means that add to the deficit. I’m also happy to talk to any Republican who voted for two and a half trillion dollars of tax cuts unpaid. So the problem I have is when people vote for that bus, the deficit on tax cuts for the wealthy and then come and say we’re doing too much for Headstart and child care and cancer research, because that’s what we’re talking about.

They’ve taken the smallest amount of spending. Do nothing about taxes for the rich, and they want to cut the smallest amount of spending. That’s not serious fiscal conversation. Anybody in D.C. will tell you you cannot get on a better fiscal path by going after these domestic programs. They are the smallest portion of our budget. It ain’t going to happen. It’s not serious. Even cutting it 30% doesn’t put you on a better fiscal path. So let’s just get real. It’s not about that.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!