On 5/30/2023, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre showed just how friendly the Biden administration is with the White House press corps when she opened press briefing by mentioning that CNN Chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly had flown to Paris to see pop star Beyoncé play a concert in Paris last Friday. Jean-Pierre made the comment as a set-up for a question for OMB Director Shalanda Young on the debt ceiling agreement. Mattingly explained he took his wife there for her 40th birthday.

They’re on the Same Team: Karine Jean-Pierre Affectionately Asks CNN Reporter What His Favorite Beyoncé Song Is After Revealing He Flew to Paris for Pop Star’s Concert
CRINGE: KJP Asks Favorite Beyonce Song Is. Debt Deal “Admission” That Gov’t Spends Too Much?
Reporter: Just following — thanks for blowing me up on that.
KJP: I know, but I have a question for you. (Laughter.) What’s your — what your favorite Beyoncé song?
Reporter: I — there’s too many to list — (laughter) — on camera in this moment.
KJP: Smart ques- — smart answer. Smart answer.
Reporter: It was — it was a good concert. That’s what I will say.
KJP: Go ahead, Phil.

Biden Budget Director Shalanda Young Won’t Say If Debt Deal “Admission” That Gov’t Spends Too Much
Reporter: But with this deal, is this an admission by the President that maybe the government spent too much money over the past two years?

MS. YOUNG: What I’ll say is: We’re in divided government, and both sides have thoughts about the trajectory of the country, of spending.

This President takes a backseat to nobody on deficit reduction. $1.7 trillion reduction in the first two years. He presided over that. His budget put forth a plan to reduce the deficit by $3 trillion more. He also made the case over and over in this conversation that if you really want to do big deficit reduction, where’s the revenue?

Biden Budget Director Shalanda Young Starts Making Little Sense On Debt Ceiling Negotiations
Reporter: You’ve said a couple of times that the agreement represents a compromise, and you’ve said it’s reasonable for both sides. But does the President feel like he came out ahead with this deal?

MS. YOUNG: … When you go into these things, what are you doing it for? Sure, there are some days where I have to slap myself and you’re like, “Ah, let it go. It’s fine.” The point is to avoid default

Small confession to make: I’m out of clean clothes; Beyoncé, in Paris, wife’s 40th birthday

MS. YOUNG: I do have a small confession to make: I’m also out of clean clothes — (laughter) — after these last couple weeks. So I think I ran into Annie Linskey of the Wall Street Journal and Lauren Egan with Politico as they saw me trekking back to get some clothes to wear with you here today because I don’t have time to do laundry or take anything to the dry cleaner. (Laughter.) So, that’s about how my last two weeks have gone.

KJP: Phil, who just came back from Beyoncé, in Paris. (Laughter.)
MS. YOUNG: You did not.
Reporter: It was great. It was a great concert. It was my wife’s 40th birthday present. That’s not bad.
MS. YOUNG: I have feelings right now. (Laughter.)
KJP: (Laughs.) I feel you.
Reporter: Can we talk about it after, in a very lengthy interview? We can do that at the very end of it.
KJP: Phil has feelings, too. (Laughter.)
Reporter: This is going to be a hell of a segue. (Laughter.) The appropriations adjustments —
MS. YOUNG: Yep.

Reconsideration of doing away with the debt ceiling?
Reporter: Just one more. Given that this process brought the U.S. to the brink, and this process isn’t quite over yet, has there been any reconsideration of doing away with the debt ceiling at some point? Is there — you know, late at night when you had no laundry or at other times, where is the administration’s thinking on the usefulness of having a debt ceiling?

MS. YOUNG: … And not only avoid default for a little while — until 2025, which is what this bill does. And it does give us some breathing room not to enter into these chaotic circumstances

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CRINGE: KJP Asks Favorite Beyonce Song Is. Debt Deal “Admission” That Gov’t Spends Too Much?