Biden on the Speaker Fight: 'I'm Following It With Great—How Can I Say It?' Harris: 'Attention' (January 5, 2023)

President Joe Biden had just finished a speech on the border when a reporter called out a question about the fight for House speaker. Biden turned back to answer and lost his words, so Vice President Kamala Harris finished the sentence for him.

“I’m monitoring—I’m following it with great—how can I say it?” Biden said. “Attention,” Harris offered. “Attention,” Biden repeated, to laughter [1].

The video above shows the moment from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Jan. 5, 2023. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project, and the press pool report describes the scene [1][3].

”How Can I Say It?”

The question came as Biden was leaving. “Are you still monitoring the Speaker’s race? Are you still watching the Speaker’s race?” a reporter asked [1].

According to the pool report, Biden said, “I’m following with great …” and then “paused, smiled a bit and turned to Vice President Harris. Harris offered: ‘attention.’ Biden then finished his sentence, saying: ‘attention.’” Then the two walked out of the Roosevelt Room [3].

The Speaker Fight

The race Biden was “following” had tied up the new Republican majority for days. Two days after this exchange, at 12:34 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2023, Kevin McCarthy won the gavel with 216 votes to 212 for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, with six members voting “present,” according to the House Clerk’s record [5].

It took 15 roll calls. The Clerk’s records show 15 votes on the “Election of the Speaker” in the first 20 roll calls of the new Congress, with the final one going to McCarthy [5].

The Border Plan

The speech was about the southern border, and Biden came with news. “Today I’m announcing that Mexico has agreed to allow up—to return up to 30,000 persons per month who try, get caught, and get sent back from those four countries who are apprehended while attempting to unlawfully cross the border,” he said, referring to Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela [1].

He paired it with a new legal pathway. Under the expanded parole program, the White House said, “up to 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries, who have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks, can come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization” [2].

“My message is this: If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua, or Haiti, you have—and we—or have agreed to begin a journey to America, do not—do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there,” Biden said [1].

The White House also blamed Republicans. Its fact sheet said lasting fixes could only happen “if Republicans in Congress who have spent the past two years talking about border security quit blocking the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden proposed on his first day in office” [2].

”Proud of the Vice President”

Biden praised the official he had put in charge of the “root causes” of migration. “And the thing that I’m so—presumptive of me to say ‘proud of’—but proud of the Vice President, she went beyond the United States and contributors to try to get the rest of the world to say, ‘Look, this makes sense,’” Biden said [1].

“And you know, she got commitments of 3.5, I think?” he asked. “Two. Three point two,” Harris corrected him. “Three-point-two billion dollars,” Biden said [1].

“It’s so easy to demagogue this issue. It’s so easy to demagogue it,” Biden added [1].

”Extreme Republicans”

Biden turned his border speech against the other party. “It’s clear that immigration is a political issue that extreme Republicans are always going to run on. But now they have a choice: They can keep using immigration to try to score political points, or they can help solve the problem,” he said [1].

“Look, we need more resources to secure the border. Yet again, extreme Republicans have said no,” Biden said. “But if the most extreme Republicans continue to demagogue this issue and reject solutions, I’m left with only one choice: to act on my own, do as much as I can on my own to try to change the atmosphere.” [1]

“Trying to Find Some Oxygen”

Biden wrapped up his border remarks at 12:19 p.m. and took several questions, including one about Vladimir Putin, the pool reported [3]. A reporter asked about the Orthodox Christmas cease-fire the Russian president had proposed for Ukraine. “I’m reluctant to respond to anything Putin says. I found it interesting,” Biden said. “He was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches and with the—with—on the 25th and New Year’s. And, I mean, you know, I—I think he’s trying to find some oxygen” [1].

It was the last question he answered before the one about the speaker’s race, the one that left him searching for a word [1].

First Trip to the Border

Biden also announced a trip to the border three days later. “On Sunday, January 8, the President will travel to El Paso, Texas,” the White House said. He would “assess border enforcement operations and meet with local elected officials and community leaders” [4].

By the Numbers

30,000: migrants per month from four countries that Mexico agreed to take back [1].
30,000: migrants per month allowed in through the expanded parole program [2].
2 years: the length of parole, with work authorization [2].
15: roll calls it took to elect McCarthy speaker [5].
216-212: McCarthy’s margin over Jeffries on the final ballot, with 6 voting present [5].
Jan. 8, 2023: Biden’s trip to the border in El Paso [4].

What Happened Next

McCarthy got the gavel. He won on the 15th ballot, early on Jan. 7, 2023 [5]. Within weeks, he blocked Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee, as HYGO News reported in its page on that fight.

The parole programs were ended. On March 25, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump published a notice “terminating the categorical parole programs for inadmissible aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela” [6]. On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the administration’s request to put on hold a lower-court order that had blocked the terminations, while the appeal continued [7].

For the White House’s answer, months later, on what to call 10,000 illegal crossings in a day, see HYGO News’ page on Peter Doocy’s question.