Jen Psaki dodges question on report Nancy Pelosi is upset about how Biden handled Title 42: 'There are many strong feelings'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki avoided commenting directly on a report that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was angry over the way the Biden administration mishandled the Title 42 immigration policy.
Psaki made the comments at Wednesday's media briefing at the White House.
"There has been reporting that Speaker Pelosi is unhappy with the way that the White House has handled Title 42 and worried that if it comes up for a vote as a part of a Ukraine package that Democrats wouldn't have the votes to defeat that," asked Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News. "Does the White House share that concern and what do you make of Pelosi seeming to be kind of shaky on just how close she is to the White House on this decision?"
"Well, I would say we're incredibly close with Speaker Pelosi and the president has known her for many many decades," Psaki responded.
"I don't have more to spell out or explain what her meaning was, or what defeated means or doesn't mean. There are many strong feelings and points of view on Capitol Hill, in the House, and in the Senate about Title 42," she continued.
"It wasn't a decision made by the White House, it was a decision to lift it by the CDC," Psaki. "The authority was given to them by Congress, and our efforts and our focus is on implementation, and the department, the secretary of Homeland Security is obviously testifying on that, so I don't have any more to explain on the particular comments but we obviously work with Speaker Pelosi on a range of issues including immigration."
Title 42 is a policy meant to deter asylum seekers from entering the U.S. to await while their applications are being processed. It was implemented by the former Trump administration to curtail the spread of the coronavirus from migrants who might be infected.
On Monday, a judge ordered a temporary restraining order against the Biden administration ending Title 42 based on the legal challenge posed by several attorneys general of states that would be negatively affected by the expected wave of new migrants into the country.
A poll earlier in April found that the decision to end Title 42 was the most unpopular policy made by the Biden administration so far.
Here's the video of Psaki's non response:
JUST IN: Jen Psaki PRESSED on Hunter Biden, Title 42, and Nancy Pelosi being Furious with Biden!www.youtube.com