With the clock ticking down toward default, the White House and the nation’s deeply unpopular leader President Joe Biden closed up shop for the long holiday weekend, suspending media briefings on an issue that could have serious adverse effects on the lives of Americans if a deal isn’t reached on raising the debt ceiling.
The lack of transparency has drawn the ire of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) which isn’t pleased that reporters will be left in the dark as Biden headed for Delaware for yet another weekend away from Washington, D.C. and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time for the economic wellbeing of the country.
“The WHCA board pushed hard for the White House to hold a briefing on Friday or potentially over the weekend given intense interest in the high stakes debt ceiling negotiations and the risk that the US economy could go over a cliff,” WHCA President and NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith said in a statement.
“The White House was not persuaded by our argument that the public deserves to see them answer questions. Monday is a federal holiday, which means there could be four days in the midst of a political crisis, without a briefing,” Keith added.
The left-leaning press association is the same organization that sponsors the annual WHCA dinner, an event where those who in the old days were tasked with holding power to account now suck up to it as was seen last month when the press laughed hysterically at Biden’s jokes even though he was mocking them.
Joe Biden: “In a lot of ways this dinner sums up my first two years in office. I’ll talk for ten minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away.” And the press just laughs along with him. They hate you and no matter how much you all hate these people, it’s not enough! pic.twitter.com/i9UqL6knNm
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) April 30, 2023
The White House pushed back against the idea that the American people would be missing out on developments in the debt ceiling crisis over the Memorial Day weekend.
“The briefing is one mechanism through which we share information with the press but not the only one. The team is constantly available – 7 days a week – to answer questions from the press about developments in the news,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton told Fox News Digital.
“The President publicly addressed the debt limit in a press conference on Sunday, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, and again yesterday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed the situation last Sunday on Meet the Press and White House officials have done interviews throughout the week. Karine has answered 105 questions in four on-camera press briefings this week, including a Saturday briefing for traveling reporters in Japan. We’re proud to have restored that tradition after the last administration ended briefings entirely. And the White House has issued a steady stream of statements, releases, and memos on the budget agreement and need to avoid default,” she said.
In a Friday letter to congressional lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the date of default is now June 5, pushing back the deadline by four days over previous estimates.
Negotiations are ongoing between Biden and Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with the president telling reporters that they are “very close” to a deal.
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