Psaki Dismisses Idea That Admin is Fighting Harder for Neera Tanden Than for $15 Wage: ‘Mixing a Few Things Kind of Irresponsibly’

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked during Monday’s briefing about the Biden administration’s priorities regarding both the push for a $15 minimum wage and the ongoing effort to confirm Neera Tanden.

The former is a step supported by President Joe Biden, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled it could not be included in the overall Covid relief bill. In the past few days there have been calls by some progressives and House Democrats for the White House to overrule the parliamentarian, but the Biden administration ruled it out.

As for Tanden, the president is sticking by his nominee to be the director of Office of Management and Budget, even though Joe Manchin’s opposition imperils the confirmation in a 50-50 Senate with no Republicans on board to support her right now.

At the briefing Monday, NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett asked Psaki about both issues:

“The White House doesn’t have 50 votes to confirm Neera Tanden as OMB director, and yet we heard the White House chief of staff say that the White House is going to fight their guts out — ‘fight our guts out’ was the phrase he used — to get her confirmed. So why push for that and not push as hard, one could say, for raising the minimum wage? You could make the argument that the American people stand to benefit more from a higher wage than they would from a chosen OMB director.”

Psaki responded, “I think that’s mixing a few things kind of irresponsibly, if I’m just being totally honest.”

She said Biden included the $15 minimum wage in the first place “because he felt strongly that it’s long overdue,” and argued, “There is a process it goes through, a parliamentary process, when it’s a reconciliation bill, as you know.”

“The president, the vice president, have made the decision they’re not going to move forward with that step, but also it’s not a simple process, it requires two steps,” Psaki added, before defending the White House’s continued push for Tanden.

Bennett also asked Psaki if the president would support nixing the filibuster to get major voting rights legislation passed. Psaki said Biden supports the legislation, but added, “The president’s view on the filibuster is well-known. He has not changed that point of view.”

You can watch the full exchange above, via C-SPAN.

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