Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route La Crosse, WI

1:30 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi, everybody.

Q Hello!

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Long time, no see. So, I just have one thing at the top, and then we can get going.

So, as you all know, today we're headed to Westby, Wisconsin, where the president will announce a $7.3 billion investment from the Inflation Reduction Act for clean, affordable, reliable electricity for rural America.

The inves- - investment announced today is the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal and is part of the president's Investing in America agenda, which is lowering costs, creating jobs, and bringing new opportunity to communities and families across the country.

Sixteen rural electric coop- - cooperatives from across the country have been selected as a part of this first round of awards from the Department of Agriculture's Empowering Rural America program. Thanks to this programs, co-ops will lower energy costs for rural Americans, enhance grid reliability, and create more than 4,500 permanent jobs and over 16,000 construction jobs.

And we cannot forget that Republican officials' MAGAnomics agenda would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, for which Vice President Harris was the deciding vote, and take all these life-changing benefits away from rural Ameri- - rural communities.

Also today, we are announcing the 10th approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind project. The nation has now approved enough offshore wind projects to power more than 5 million homes and get us halfway to achieving the 30-gigawatt goal.

At the beginning of the administration, there were no approved commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters in the United States.

Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris - Harris' leadership, the nation's offshore and industry wi- [wind industry] - industry, which is creating good-paying and union jobs, establishing and growing new industries in the United States, providing reliable clean power for homes and businesses, strengthening "Made in America" supply chains, and tackling the climate crisis, and helping lower costs for families.

This project, off the shore of Maryland, will provide clean, reliable an- - renewable energy for up to seven thou- - 770,000 homes and will support up to over 2,600 jobs annually over seven years.

The administration will continue to use every tool available, including leveraging historic resources from President Biden's Investing in America agenda, to seize offshore wind opportunities across America that will create new good-paying jobs for over - for - for our communities.

And, with that, hi. How are you?

Q Good. How are you? On Hunter Biden changing his plea, does the White House have a comment at all? And does that change the president's calculus on pardoning his son?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, on your first question, I - I'm not able to com- - to comment at this time.

On your second question - which was, I guess, part of one question - it's no. It's still no.

Q Was the president aware that he was going to plead guilty?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I - I don't have anything else. I'm not able to comment on it. But I can say that it is still very much a "no" to the questions that I have gotten about if the president is going to pardon his son.

Q And can you -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: But I don't have anything else to add.

Q Can you comment on whether a commutation would be on or off the table?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That's also no.

Q Did the decision to change his - his plea have anything to do with the president no longer running for reelection?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything to - to say beyond what I just said.

Q On asylum rules. There's reporting that there might be an effort in the administration to make it harder to roll back the asylum restrictions, the border restrictions. Do you have - does the president have a position on that? Do you want to make that stricter?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything else to add, really, to that. As you know, back in June, the president made his - made that announcement on how he was going to move forward on - on making sure that we do what majority of the Americans want us to do - right? - which is work to - to deal with the challenges at the border.

I - I don't have anything else to add beyond - beyond what - your question that you're asking me.

Q So, you're not expecting a rule change, or you just don't know?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not expecting a rule change.

Q Do you have any updates on the president's awareness or communications with people with regard to yesterday's school shooting?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, obviously, the president and the first lady mourn the lives that were lost in the horrific tragedy yesterday.

What I will say is I don't have anything to a- - to read out, a call to read out, or a - planned calls to read out. But obviously, we're mourning for not just the families but for the community.

And I will say that the president is going to address this at the top of his remarks in Wisconsin today. So, I'm not going to get ahead of the president.

Q ADP reported that 99,000 jobs were added in August. How worried are you about a job market slowdown?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you know, we have the - the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which is coming out tomorrow. ADP jobs report is not the official source of labor market information, so I'm not going to get ahead of what - what we'll hear tomorrow. And I'll just leave it there.

Q Karine, I'm wondering if you have anything fresh on U.S. Steel. Obv- - obviously, you got some questions on it yesterday, but there was some reporting that there were letters from - one from the administration to the companies involved about national security concerns. So, I'm wondering if you have anything to add.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I'm just going to be mindful. CFIUS is going through their process. They - that process continues. They have not made the recommendation - or we have not received the recommendation to the president, which is part of the process. So, I don't have any news to make. I'm going to let CFIUS do - do their jobs.

Q And then I have one quickly. Boeing is in a - the middle of a labor dispute. They have negotiations this weekend, and it seems like a strike is at least a possibility. Can you talk about if you guys are monitoring this, involved in any way in trying to mediate this? And, if it were to go to a strike, if you're concerned that it would have either a impact on, you know, domestic travel for - for Americans but also on - Boeing is obviously a huge government supplier for - for the military.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, what I'll say is - and you know this - the president, who has been called the most pro-union president ever, we - we support collective bargaining, and he believes it's the best way for American workers and employees [employers] to come to an agreement that works for all parties.

And so, that's why we continue, and as we've done in many times a- - when there are - these moments come up, we encourage all parties to come together in good faith to come to - to come to a conclusion here.

I don't have anything else to say to your second part of your question. Obviously, we - this is something we monitor, anything that may affect or have impact on the economy. But what we want to see is collective bargaining. That's what the president believes. And I'll just leave it there for now.

Q Karine, I was wondering: What does the president think of Vice President Harris wanting to raise capital gains taxes by less than - than he has called for? Does he think that's misguided?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I - you know, we've talked about this before. The president and the vice president stand shoulder to shoulder. You've seen what they've been able to do the past three and a half years. That relates to whether it's the economy, health care, or anything in that fashion. And, look, they've been able to - to get a lot of work done on behalf of the American people.

And so, look, they share the goal of tax system that lowers - both of them, both the presi- - the president and vice president - that lowers taxes for working Americans and middle- - middle-class families, encourages business investment in America, and asks billionaires to finally pay their fair share.

And what we see from the other side, what we see from congressional Republicans, they want to give tax relief to billionaires and corporations. That's not what we bel- - we want to make sure that they - they are - when it comes to corporations and billionaires, that they're paying their fair share here and not putting it at the - at the feet of the middle class or working Americans.

So, they share the same values of expanding opportunity, growing the middle class, and supporting small business. It's a stark contrast, again, to what congressional Republicans want to do. They want to raise taxes on everyday goods for middle-class families by almost $4,000 per year.

And so, they stand shoulder to shoulder here. We've seen what they've been able to do for the last three and half years. And they want to make sure that we continue to deliver for - for Americans here.

Q Has the president talked to V- - the VP about the debate at all and given her any advice on how to go up against Trump?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I'm going to just let the campaign speak to her debate preparation. What I can say is the president is proud of the vice president and very much is going - is looking forward to watching her debate - her debate on Tuesday. I don't have anything beyond that.

Okay. All right.

Thanks, everybody. I'll see you on the ground.

Q Thank you.

1:40 P.M. EDT