Harris Hasn’t Spoken With Guatemalan President in 6 Months; Psaki Calls Nonpartisan CBO Score “Fake”

A December 2021 White House press briefing featured several contentious exchanges between Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy covering multiple policy fronts. Doocy pressed Psaki on Vice President Kamala Harris’s lack of direct communication with the Guatemalan president for six months despite being in charge of addressing root causes of Central American migration. The briefing also produced a notable moment when Psaki dismissed a Congressional Budget Office score of the Build Back Better plan as a “fake CBO score,” and she deflected questions about whether soft-on-crime prosecutors were contributing to a rise in smash-and-grab robberies in major cities.

Harris and the Guatemala Question

Doocy opened his questioning by asking whether Vice President Harris remained in charge of addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Psaki confirmed she was, noting a commitment Harris was announcing that afternoon.

Doocy then pressed: “So why is it that she has not spoken to the President of Guatemala since June, six months?”

Psaki attempted to redirect, saying she had seen what she called a “kind of strange report from the President of Guatemala saying that he’s had no contact with the White House, which is inaccurate.” Doocy clarified that the Guatemalan president had specifically said Harris had not spoken with him, not the White House generally.

Psaki responded by citing conversations conducted by the National Security Advisor, the Vice President’s National Security Advisor, and NSSC Senior Director Juan Gonzalez. “We put out an extensive readout of that just last week, and we’ll continue that high level of engagement,” she said, without addressing whether Harris herself had been in direct contact with the Guatemalan president.

The “Fake” CBO Score

The exchange on the Build Back Better plan produced the briefing’s most quotable moment. Doocy noted that the CBO had released a new score assuming that the social programs in the bill would be made permanent, which projected the legislation would add nearly $3 trillion to the deficit. He asked whether President Biden would commit that these programs would not be made permanent.

Psaki dismissed the analysis as “a fake CBO score that is not based on the actual bill that anybody is voting on.” She explained that Senator Lindsey Graham had requested that the CBO score a hypothetical version of the bill with all temporary programs made permanent, and that this did not reflect the legislation being considered by Congress.

“The President has conveyed very clearly, multiple times publicly, that he would like programs if they’re extended to be paid for. That remains his commitment,” Psaki said. “But it’s important to understand that when anybody raises a question about this new CBO score, it is a fake score about a bill that doesn’t exist.”

The characterization was notable because the CBO is widely regarded as a nonpartisan arbiter of legislative costs. Vice President Harris had separately claimed that the Build Back Better plan was “fully paid for and will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.”

Adding further tension to the debate, the briefing included a clip of former Obama administration economist Larry Summers saying he believed “the inflation rate would be slightly higher in 2022 and 2023 with the Build Back Better than it would be without the Build Back Better.”

Crime and Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors

Doocy shifted to the surge in smash-and-grab robberies plaguing major cities. “Do you think it’s possible that big cities are dealing with these smash and grab robberies right now, an increase in criminal activity because some prosecutors are too soft on crime?” he asked.

Psaki declined to attribute specific causes, saying the administration had “seen an increase in crime over the course of the pandemic” with “a range of reasons for that.” She said the White House focus was on providing funding and assistance to local police departments.

Doocy pressed further: “What good does it do if you’re going to give police departments extra money if they arrest bad guys and they bring them to jail and then they’re not prosecuted, they’re just right back out on the streets?”

He cited specific examples from the preceding week: a pickpocket with more than 30 prior arrests who was released, and an arsonist who had burned down a half-million-dollar Christmas tree in New York City who was also back on the streets. “Does the president think that that’s good governing?” Doocy asked.

Psaki referred him to local police departments and the Department of Justice for comment on specific cases.

Climate Change and Kentucky Tornadoes

The briefing also touched on President Biden’s planned visit to Kentucky following devastating tornadoes. Reporters asked how Biden balanced the unifying purpose of a disaster visit with the partisan divide over climate policy.

Psaki argued that climate was not a political issue “because look at the communities that have been impacted. Red, blue, purple, no color at all.” Biden had separately said he would seek input from the EPA about whether the specific tornadoes were linked to climate change.

“All that I know is that the intensity of the weather across the board has some impact as a consequence of the warming of the planet and the climate change,” Biden said. “The specific impact on these specific storms, I can’t say at this point.”

Key Takeaways

Psaki did not deny that Vice President Harris had gone six months without speaking directly to the Guatemalan president, instead citing lower-level White House contacts as evidence of continued engagement.
Psaki called the CBO’s score of a permanent Build Back Better plan a “fake CBO score about a bill that doesn’t exist,” despite the CBO’s nonpartisan status, as former Obama economist Larry Summers warned the plan would increase inflation.
The press secretary declined to connect rising smash-and-grab crime to soft-on-crime prosecutors, referring specific cases to local authorities even when Doocy cited repeat offenders released back onto the streets.
The briefing also covered Biden’s upcoming visit to tornado-ravaged Kentucky and whether climate change was directly responsible for the storms.

Full Transcript

Is Vice President Harris still in charge of addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala? She is, and I just announced a commitment that she’s announcing this afternoon. So why is it that she has not spoken to the President of Guatemala since June, six months? Well, I know that I did see this kind of strange report from the President of Guatemala saying that he’s had no contact with the White House, which is inaccurate. You didn’t say that. He said Vice President Harris is not spoken to her. And if she’s in charge, why is that? Well, we have had a range of conversations, Peter. I think as reflected in our readout we put out last week with our National Security Advisor, with the Vice President’s National Security Advisor, with our NSSC Senior Director, Juan Gonzalez. We put out an extensive readout of that just last week, and we’ll continue that high level of engagement.

This bill is fully paid for and will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. The President says that the Build Back Better is not going to add a penny to the deficit. The CBO has this new score where they assume that social programs are going to be made permanent, and in that case it would add almost $3 trillion. So does that mean that President Biden will commit that these programs are not going to be made permanent? Well, first of all, what we’re talking about here is a fake CBO score that is not based on the actual bill that anybody is voting on. This was a request by Senator Graham to score a bill that is not currently being debated. That is his prerogative to do. But what our focus is on is on the existing bill that will lower the deficit, that will also over an additional 10 years pay for the $2 trillion tax cuts that Republicans didn’t pay for. They’re welcome for that.

So I would say, Peter, to your question, the President has conveyed very clearly, multiple times publicly, that he would like programs if they’re extended to be paid for. That remains his commitment. But it’s important to understand that when anybody raises a question about this new CBO score, it is a fake score about a bill that doesn’t exist, and we should really focus on the actual bill everybody’s going to vote on and considering in Congress right now.

I think the inflation rate would be slightly higher in 2022 and 2023 with the Build Back Better than it would be without the Build Back Better.

Do you think it’s possible that big cities are dealing with these smash and grab robberies right now, an increase in criminal activity because some prosecutors are too soft on crime? I would say we have seen an increase in crime over the course of the pandemic. There are a range of reasons for that. And our focus is on what we can do to address it. But I guess what good does it do if you’re going to give police departments extra money if they arrest bad guys and they bring them to jail and then they’re not prosecuted, they’re just right back out on the streets. I think, Peter, what our focus is on is making sure that the local leaders, the police officers and departments who know what they need for these communities have the assistance and the funding they need. And that’s what we’re working around the clock on.

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