Republican shutdown. Were calling out how a shut down what damage our communities, economy, and national security. We are going to hold extreme House Republicans accountable, we will hold them accountable for the reckless cuts they are demanding as a condition for keeping the government open. With that, i am looking forward to having his secretary back here again to give you a laydown of the impacts and talk about what the extreme republicans are about to do, i will impact families and americans across the country. Think about it, the risk of nutrition existence for nearly 7 million mothers and Family Support on wic and farmers who cannot access loans and delaying loans for rural families and that is what we are looking at if this shutdown occurs. With that, thank you. Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here today. I think most of you understand and appreciate the work of the department of agriculture spawns a number of missionaries. Were not only responsible for supporting farmers, we also provide nutrition assistance, vital assistance to americans. That is why it is so difficult to face where we are today with an extreme house where people effort to steer our government towards a preventable shutdown that would put many of the Critical Services that we care about deeply at risk. I know about this first hand, i was the sector of agriculture during 2013 when we had a shut down. I remember then the needless challenges and disruptions that it caused. Today i thought it would be important to highlight some of the impacts and the extreme of the extreme republican shutdown. What it would do to families in need. Let me start with wic. It impacts and effects over 50 of all newborns in this country, nearly 7 million pregnant mothers, new mothers and Young Children, count on wic every single day to receive support, nutrition assistance, and support. With a shut down what we would see across the United States is a denial of those benefits and opportunities. In some cases, it would be literally within a matter of days after the shutdown. In some cases it may be in some states, literally a matter of weeks. Clearly, during the course of a shut down, millions of those mothers and Young Children would see a lack of nutrition assistance. It is not just the wic program, it is also about our farm economy. Now is the time when farmers are harvesting their crops. They are seeking marketing loans which allow them to assist them in ensuring that they get a decent price for their crop. When we have a shut down, Farm Service Agency offices in every county shutdown. Those loans are not available. It is not just about farm loans. It is about newlyweds who have decided to purchase their first home in a rural small town. Perhaps they are getting a Loan Guarantee from a bank that is guaranteed by usda or is a direct loan from usda to be able to purchase at home. With a shut down, those loans do not take place. It is conceivable in those circumstances not only do they not close the loan, it is conceivable that they may lose the deal. This is a matter of real consequences and we are faced with a shut down. And it is not just about rural america, it is not our natural resources. As you know, usda is responsible for maintaining 195 million acres of grasslands, ease or place where people go to recreate. When they do, they provide tourism dollars to communities in which they are going and spending time. When we have a shut down, those National Forests shut down and they are closed. Those family trips do not take place. Those tourism dollars not spent. The jobs they support are brisk. It is not just the services that goes to the american public, it is those who work for the usda. Went to spite and expect more than 50,000 of those who work for usda will be for a loan and when they are furloughed it means they do not receive a paycheck. They do not receive that paycheck, their local economies get impacted and affected. I can go on for some time but the reality is that when there is a shut down, we are looking at a significant disruption of the lives of millions of americans. Republicans have called for acr. I will say two things about that. Is carrying forward the extreme it is caring for the extreme cuts proposed in the house and appropriations committee. I said it was pathetic, it was punitive. It was petty. I would say that also continues to be the case. I only do we have the wic initiative that would not be funded, we are looking at the failure to fund a firefighter fix which puts at risk the firefighting staff necessary to combat the nearly 44,000 fires we have already experienced in the western u. S. Today. We are here today to suggest that there are real consequences to real people in a real way when there is a shut down. Especially one that ought not to happen, i am hopeful that at the end of the day it does not happen. How long can you keep nutrition assistance going . Let me make sure i understand your question, the snap program, it will continue. At least for a month in october. If they shut down were to extend longer than that, there would be some serious consequences to snap. The wic program which is nearly 7 million mothers and children, that expires or stops mealy operation and printers. That stops immediately after. The vast majority of wic participants would see immediate reduction and elimination of the benefits. It would not be available. Are there any areas where if there is a Government Shutdown, that the administration could explore the possibility of exercising any authority of funding of the wic program for the one or two days you mentioned . There is no authority, unlike the snap program it does not, we do not have the capability. Lease for a period at lease for a period of a month. If we have a shut down, wic shuts down. The nutrition assistance shuts down. Thank you. You mentioned a Government Shutdown can harm farmers, but this into perspective for americans. What should americans expect . Will this lead to higher food prices . When it leads to is a tremendous amount of stress for the farm families. What it leads to is a tremendous amount of stress for the farm families. Many farm families require all farm income to keep the farm and the need that loan, marketing assistance loan to be able to make sure they maintain the farm. It puts at risk the small and mid size farming operations to get credit and their ability to pay their bills, the ability to make sure they can harvest their crop. If they cannot harvest the crop do not get the marketing assistance loan, there in a situation where they do not profit. If they do not profit, they risk losing the farm it is a tremendous amount of stress, for what reason . There is no reason for this shutdown. We had a deal. A deal that the Senate Passed with a majority of senators. A deal that passed the house with a majority of not just democrats but republicans voting for it. A deal is a deal. To me, there is no reason for us to be even having this conversation. Thank you. Over the weekend the president mentioned that food safety was at stake. Can you give us some examples of how during previous shutdowns the absence of food and environmental exception impacted Public Health . I think you would want to visit with the folks at fda, you need to understand our food safety concerns are different. Eggs will have food inspections. But that may not necessarily be the case with the fda. If you want to talk to the fda, i will show you how silly this is. If you order a pepperoni pizza, we are guaranteeing the safety of it because there is meat on that pizza. If you order a cheese pizza, you looking at fda. [laughter] are not all food inspectors considered federal employees . I cannot speak what fda does, you need to visit with them but our inspectors will be on site. Here is where there is a potential problem. That is if there is a situation or circumstance that requires lab analysis, that is a different story. That may impact and affect our ability to detect animal diseases, as quickly as many tea to which in turn could affect the supply of food. Inspectors will be on the job. On the potential furloughed workers, or will the workers be impacted . Every county of the country. We have a presence in every county in the country. It will impact and effect every county in the nation. It is our offices, employees, some of the for service employees, it is a lot of the researchers and people who work for the Agricultural Research service. It is for administrative staff, you can have people working on the job, if you do not have the demonstrated people behind it, the job does not get done. It is incredibly disruptive. How confident are you that a new farm bill will be passed by the end of the year or an extension is more likely . The chair and ranking members of both committees are working hard to get this done. I would say that in order for it to get done it is important for them to understand the importance of using all of the tools that would be available for all of the challenges that they face. I just think farm bill but the budget. Not just the farm bill but the budget grade. Undercutting it by up to 40 , you are undermining the farm bill to be implemented. Our challenge at usda is to provide assistance and help to get to them. Will continue to work. Our hope and belief is that the Farm Community and rural areas need certainty and consistency and we will do everything we can to make sure it gets asked as quickly as we can. It is pretty tough to do if there is a shut down. You cannot do it. Follow up on that, a shut the ability of your legislative vote and maybe negotiations on the farm bill. Could the farm bill reauthorization be delayed because everybody is dealing with the shutdown . Some senators or presenters have a good idea of how they may be able to solve one of the problems they are able to solve. To call our office for technical assistance. The phone will not get answered. No one is there. Why are they not there . We are in shutdown. That is why it is so ridiculous to even talk about this. The speaker needs to do his job. He fought for it, he negotiated for it. He needs to do the job and get the job done. Thank you. Switching gears to a slightly different topic, has department of agriculture seen anything in the purchase of farmland by chinese corporations or chinese nationals i would suggest a threat to that would suggest a threat to National Food security . Or are those concerns we have been hearing about not true . There are concerns like north dakota where chinese interest was purchasing a land near military installations. There are concerns in that space and i think that is one of the reasons why we have articulated the need as a department to be more engaged in this process. I would say that there is work to be done to give us the tools to be able to and do a better job of ensuring when these transactions take place. It is complicated, every county has their county recorder. On any given day somebody may walk into that Recorders Office and file a deed and there is no way of knowing if there is a chinese purchaser. We need to work on how we might be able to collect the information and be able to analyze that information in a timely way so that we can determine whether or not a threat exists. It sounds like you are not confident in the Current System to monitor . It is not that i am not confident, i think we could be i think we are confident in the job we are doing today because we are able to identify circumstances like in north dakota. I think that if folks are looking for a foolproof system so that nothing gets through the cracks, we can improve that process. I think being able to collect information in a way that allows us to go a little bit deeper and a little quicker, that would be good as well. How are they shutdown affect programs like Crop Insurance how would the shutdown affect programs like Crop Insurance and go conditions . Do you see a need for supplemental funding to come in and help folks . I think there are circumstances now with standing the fact we have a good safety net that there are some types of crops that would need a little bit of additional help, florida and georgia in particular where there are significant needs and challenges. Fortunately, the shutdown does not impact Crop Insurance. A failure to extend the farm bill, or get a farm bill done, could. That is why we didnt want to shut down so they can work on the farm bill to get it done. We do not have a disruption. The firefighters, the farm loans, home loans, i can go on and spent all of it. She would want me to do this [laughter] who spent all of your time talking about it. To spend all of your time talking about it. But there are real impacts to real people when congress and the house and the House Republicans do not do their job. Americans expect and this is what drives people crazy, outside of washington, when a deal is not a deal, and when the work you are supposed to do is not get done and it does not get done on time. Thank you. Thank you. Ok. I wanted to say a note of welcome to our new employees starting at the white house, our deputy directors of the office of gun violence prevention, greg jackson, wilcox, this is on the heels of the historic announcement that the president and Vice President made on friday. We could not be more thrilled to have them aboard here and look forward to introducing them to you very soon at the office of gun violence prevention. One last thing before we open it back up for questions, as you all know, todays jewish communities, israel, around the world are observing a sacred holiday, let me say that the president , the first lady, and all of us at the white house are extending our best wishes for a meaningful yom kippur. Well, you want to kick us off . Why did the white house have the president take the covid boosters out of you . Given the promotion of boosters and how important they are the president . I think the physicians memo, the report on saturday, certainly, if he had it, he should take a look at it. The president got his vaccination, he has an incredibly busy schedule, he has a vaccination in the best mom he could and that is what we were able to do. That is what happened last week. Certainly, we are as you laid out in your question we are engaged in a Robust Campaign and it is important to us that we encourage the public to get vaccinated. That has been the way that we have moved forward when we have moved forward with this comprehensive vaccination program. The president put forward from the beginning. It does not require a photo op. Of the president to be doing that. We thought that we need to get that done, get that on schedule and we did and we will not be stopped from having a robust engagement with the public to make sure we get it across the importance of the importance of folks getting their vaccines. Also rsv, and also the flu shot. Changing topic. The white house is working on a clean cr . The secretary was clear, before he walked out of the Briefing Room which is something for House Republicans to get done. This is a deal that the president made with republicans back in may. And a deal is a deal, as we have been saying, this is something for them to fix. They have to get this done, not because of us, not because the deal with the president , but because of the american people. We just heard the secretary of agriculture layout will happen to women and children, 7 million women and children who are part of the wic program across the country. 7 million if the shutdown happens. This is a republican shutdown. They have to get to it, they need to fix it. They have to stick to the deal the president made earlier in the summer. Welcome back thank you. It is good to be back. I know you have a number of questions about senator menendez on friday. Now that the senator has said he is not going anywhere, and given that President Biden is the leader of the Democratic Party, does the president believe that a person who is facing allegations that are as serious as the allegations confronting the senator, that there is any place for someone like senator menendez in the Democratic Party . This is a serious matter, we see this as a serious matter. We believe the senator stepping down from his chairmanship was the right thing to do. Obviously, the right thing to do. As it relates to anything else, any decision he has to make, that will be up to him and the Senate Leadership to decide. We see this as a serious matter. I will leave it there for now. What changed . Can you give us a sense of what went into the decision for the president to go stand on the picket line and show solidarity with the workers . As you laid out, this is something, the president is a union guy. You have heard him say that many times. He is the most prounion resident in modern times president in modern times. That is a title labor unions has given to him. He wears it very probably. The president of uaw invited him to attend and he accepted. Look, this is a president that has made clear that he believes corporate profits should lead to record uaw contracts. Before the strike even occurred he gave public announcements about this and he spoke to the parties on both sides of this. He has made it very clear that he supports Union Workers. He supports the uaw workers. Tomorrow, what you see will be historic. A historic visit. The president will continue to show his support not just from the last couple of years but as he has been in the public eye as a senator and Vice President and his support for unions. You have seen this in the last two years. The prounion policies making sure that is prounion policies are indeed for workers. Did you take from the visit that the president is taking the side of the Union Workers as opposed to the companies . He has been a very clear, he is prouaw, proworkers, that is this president. He has said the middle class was built by unions, unions built the middle class. He has said this over and over again. He believes that there is an opportunity here and he is encouraging by saying both sides continue to have conversations and negotiations to make right, what he believes in collective bargaining. He believes there could be a winwin agreement here. He is always going to stand on the side of workers, always. I will come to you after. Donald trumps decision to visit the uaw workers into your decision to go . Absolutely not, this is a chance to visit the picket line based on his own desire, this is what the president wanted to do to stand with autoworkers, that is what you will see the president due tomorrow and as you all know, sean feigns invitation from last week, he accepted the invitation and is proud to do so. Does the president endorsed the proposal out of uaw leadership . What does he prefer the compromise . This is for the parties to negotiate will not go or speak to what is being put at the table, we have said over and over again is that we believe there is an opportunity here for a winwin agreement. With corporations having record deals, there should be a record contract. That is what the autoworkers serve and that is what workers deserve more broadly. Did President Biden notify uaw he would be going to join the picket line . I do not have a readouts of any calls that have been made regarding to this that is related to the companies. We have said many times before that he has spoken to the companies. He has spoken to all parties. As you know, we have two members of jean sperling, a member of the white house Senior Advisor and the acting secretary julie sue has been in touch and in touch with all parties as they are negotiating this process. I do not have anything to read out except that the president was pleased to accept the invite that was given to him and provided to him by the president of uaw. He is always going to stand by the side of workers. For more information on the details and the format you need to be speaking will he be speaking . What will he be doing . Where in wayne county, michigan will he be going . We do not have any details, this is a historic trip. That is going to underscore the president as the most prounion president in history. It will be standing at her to join the picket line in solidarity going to join the picket line in solidarity of uaw. As they continue to fight for a fair, fair share of the value of the what they helped create. What the record of this corporations, the record profits they have been able to make. They believe and we believe they should have their own fair share of that. Just to clarify, President Biden will be making the trip, that means he supports the 40 pay increase . I will not go into the details of what is being negotiated on the table with the parties. What we are saying is we support the autoworkers. That is what you will see with the president tomorrow. A historic event. Historic trip. This continues to show how deep the president how he is indeed the most prounion president in history. The white house has made it clear it is on republicans to avoid the shutdown. A larger percent of americans blame it on democrats, not republicans. Should the president be speaking more on this issue . This will be a republican shutdown. This is an extreme House Republican who has made it very clear that the chaos we are seeing in the house, they are marching us towards a Government Shutdown, that should not be happening. This should not be happening. This is the job of congress. One of the basic jobs of congress is to keep the government open. A deal was made. I cant speak to your polling but i can speak to the facts. The fact is a deal is a deal and it is up to them to keep the government open. They know how to fix this and it is an extreme part of the Republican Party that is holding this because they want to ran ran through these policies. We will continue to be clear about this and we have talked about the food safety the safety, meals on wheels, headstart, so much will be affected. We are going to continue to be very clear and it is something that they can fix. [indiscernible] the president was clear when he put together the bipartisan deal that the people voted on. Want to see us continue to work in a bipartisan way. We are going to be very clear. This is a deal that they all agreed upon not long ago, a couple of months ago. Now they cant stick to the deal. We going to be asked the question and answer it straight forward lay out the facts. First time. I wanted to dust you said the president s desk does not mean the president is siding with the autoworkers . We are not going to get into negotiation. That is something for the party to decide on and for them to discuss. May saying the president supports the autoworkers is not new. When we are talking about a president who is the most prounion president in history, it is nothing new for the president to stand by the workers. It is nothing new for the president to say im going to stand by the men and women of uaw and make sure they get there fair share, a winwin agreement. This can be a winwin agreement for all. We are not going to litigate the specifics. According to the polling, 37 percent of registered voters, just 37 , approve of the handling of the economy. 74 percent of registered voters say they have major or moderate concerns. How troubling is that . We are going to focus on what you just asked, the first question. Which is how do we continue to support the workers . We are not going to get into the litigation of negotiation. We are going to continue to show how much this president is working for American Families. You just heard from a secretary who laid out what it means if there is a shutdown and why it is important for republicans to keep to this deal. I get that americans right now have been through a lot. They have been through the pandemic that we are coming out of. They have been through what we have seen because of russias war on ukraine and we saw inflation spike and we saw what is going on, what americans are feeling every day. This is why this person has been so zeroed in, so laser focused on lowering costs for americans. We have done that and a lot of the policies america has put forward as work. You have republicans in the American Rescue plan, the inflation reduction act. I get the polling that you are laying out, i get that but we can be focused on that. We also have to be focused on really speaking directly to the american people. The next three days you are going to see the president go to three states. Our focus is going to be on what we can do to continue to deliver for the american people. Polls are going to be over the place. They are going to they dont tell the whole story. That is just the way a pole is. What we are going to focus on is how we can continue to do the job that the president promised he would do, make americans lives a little better, give them that breathing room. I always forget i want to call in you. You said the president does not want to get into the specifics of the negotiation, but is he interfering in the negotiations and the picket lines mount . We never get into the specifics of negotiations out in public. We that is something for the parties to decide on when it comes to negotiations. Weve always been clear. We are pleased to see that. When it comes to the president going to the picket line, he is doing it because he wants to stand in solidarity with the workers, which is something this president continues to do and has done for the past several years. Stay on the side of workers. You see that with the policies and you will see that tomorrow. On covid, a lot of people are struggling to get appointments. There is confusion about Insurance Companies is there concern at the white house right now of shifting for spots ability to the commercial market from the federal government . We are aware of consumers having unexpected coverage denials with insurance at the point of service. Hhs is working to resolve this quickly. We are looking for the top priority to make sure everyone can access this updated vaccine. Hhs is working through that and any specific questions i would refer you to hhs. We are taking this seriously and hhs is working through that. The Government Shutdown could have a negative impact on the country is the president concerned that what we will see is hurting the countrys reputation on the economy . Im going to leave all of the Economic Analysis to others. Im not going to get into it from here. But we know, and ive said this already couple of times, that what we are saying seeing, gently leading to a shutdown, is going to hurt the american people. The jobs, the unappointed rate, i would not understand or we do not understand why they would put our economy at risk. Why would republicans put our economy at risk . Weve seen the improvements so im going to leave it to the experts about the economy and without looks like. This is a question for them. This is something that does not have to happen. With student loans, i know there restarting in october, and the Government Shutdown could start. Is there any hope of pushing that back or is there something our words should expect if workers at the department of education will be available . Wont be available . I want to laid out, when it comes to student loans, or priority as we talk about the economic plan and giving people breathing room especially on their monthly payments, that is why the president also launched the most affordable repayment plan ever, so if this happens, if republicans in congress go down this road of shutting down the government, we anticipate federal student aid will continue for a couple of weeks. But if it is prolonged, lasting more than a few weeks, it could disrupt the return to repayments, longterm servicing support for borrowers, so the department of education will do its best to support borrowers as they return to repayment as we have been saying for the past several months. An extreme republican shutdown could be disruptive. More than 28 million borrowers have the repayments. That is what we restart the payments. These are political games we see from the other side of pennsylvania avenue and it does not have to happen. That is how we foresee this moving forward. I wanted further understanding of tomorrow. Are they going with workers at the picket line, he has with them and the terms they are seeking. But when youre asked about some of the specifics, you seem to be saying you dont want to get into the specifics of the dispute. If not standing with them on the return the terms they try to negotiate with quick he is standing to make sure they get a fair share. That is what he is standing with them on. That they get record profits, record contracts for uaw. That is what he is standing for. They are going to negotiate without looks like for them. That is what theyre doing. That is what collective bargaining is about. Theyre going to talk it through, what an agreement looks like. But what we agree on is that they deserve a fair share. They deserve a fair share of the value that they helped create. That is what the president is saying. But the specifics of what that looks like, what makes them happy or anything at the negotiation table, that is for them to decide. It seems like he is taking away the two sides. And he is not an arbiter between the two sides. We have said over and over that this is a president that stands with Union Workers. It is not confusing. What he is saying and we have been very clear, he stands with Union Workers, he has said he is the most prounion president in history and that is what he is doing. He is going to stand in solidarity at the picket line with the workers. They are at the table. They are trying to figure out what the agreement is going to look like. Theyre going to decide the specifics of the agreement. What the president is saying, and he always says this, he always says he is stands by he stands by Union Workers and he will stand by the men and women of uaw. That continues to be the case. Going to ask again. Is he standing with them, walking in with them . Hes going to join the picket line. Does the white house see any Political Risk what the president understands is that he wants to be on the side and is and has been on the side of workers. That is something he has said over and over. When he was asked if he is siding with the workers over the companies, he is . He is standing with the autoworkers. We are not involved in negotiations. That is something for them to decide, what is going to work for the parties involved . But he is standing with the autoworkers. That is what the president is doing. They got the invite from the uaw president , he accepted. And hes going to do what he has said he does all the time. He will stand with workers and standing with men and women of the with w. That is important to the president. I have to call on people i havent called on. When you are working with automakers, the trip to india earlier this month, what work i dont have any calls to read out. When you consider that in wishing in michigan tomorrow . I dont have any details with the triple look like tomorrow. With the thousands of refugees within the country at the moment, how concerned is the president about this . Mess amounts to ethnic cleansing. We certainly are watching closely the reports. This is something i would have to refer you to my colleagues to give you any update on. Certainly it is concerning that this is something there keeping an eye on closer than we are here. They will give you an update specifically. I wanted to ask about the situation on the southwest border. I know there was an agreement over the weekend. I wonder if there is action the white house is negotiating. I will have to point you to the readout. They just issued a readout of the conversation with the Mexican Government over the weekend. Regarding the engagement, i would have you reach out to them and i dont specifically have that and i will refer you to the readout more specifically as well. Go ahead. In a meeting with the premise south korea, xi jinping talked about support with china, japan and south korea. Additionally the japanese president replaced a foreign and defense ministers, a crack to your first question, i would refer you to japan and first specifics of the plan for the trilateral cooperation with p. R. C. , we hear, United States just as they take the initiative to manage with the prc and our other partners and allies. And the Prime Minister replaced those foreign defense ministers, the concern about the impact to the partnership. So referring to the government of japan on any personal decisions, you saw the relationship continue to deepen and grow a couple weeks ago now at camp david when there was a trilateral summit, was historic and truly important. We are going to continue to work closely with our counterparts to enhance the relationships and that has not changed. Go ahead. Has President Biden had any engagement with House Republicans about the shut down . I dont have any to read out to you. As i said, we have the director who has been in touch with members in congress and our legislative Affairs Office who has been in regular touch. They will view shower on any conversation the president has had specifically but we say this often. If the president is in your contact with congressional members on an array of issues. But this is something they can fix. When we talk about a republican shut down risking the vital nutrition assistance for nearly 7 million mothers and Young Children, prevent farmers from being able to access loans and delay Housing Loans for rural families, that is something the secretary laid out very well and in detail. He has been in this place before in 2013 where he had the same role in the obama biden administration. This would be devastating for American Families but it does not have to happen. A deal is a deal. Two thirds of republicans voted on the deal and they should move forward. They can fix it. And the president helped with the deal, why doesnt he do it . He already brokered the deal. They voted on it. They took it back, mccarthy took it back to the house, they voted on it, it went to the senate, they voted on it, two thirds of republicans voted on it. This is for them to fix. It was already voted on. Deal is a deal, they have to stick to it and it is one of their numberone jobs, one of their top jobs to keep the government open so that American Families dont have to suffer. Thank you. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government including broadband. Buckeye broadband supported can as a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Coming up on this mornings washington journal, max stier talks about a possible governnthutdown. We will also have rep. Rich mccormick and rep john larson, washington journal is next. Host the washington journal for september 26, the house comes in at 2 00 p. M