White House confirms congressional picnic guest list
Naomi Lim
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All lawmakers have been invited to the White House‘s congressional picnic, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“I believe so. I think that’s usually the way it works, that all members of Congress are indeed invited,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “We are not picking who gets to come and who doesn’t get to come.”
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Earlier in the briefing, Jean-Pierre downplayed the idea that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) would be invited so that he and White House aides, perhaps even President Joe Biden himself, could discuss his hold on military promotions in protest of the Pentagon‘s abortion policies.
“There are a lot of members, at least in the House, and certainly about 100 senators on the other side, so [I] don’t have a list of who’s attending,” she said. “Clearly, this is an opportunity for both sides to come to the White House and enjoy their time here on the South Lawn, enjoy a picnic with their family. This is something that congressional members, both sides of the chamber, enjoy and we always have.”
The press secretary could not provide more details about Biden’s relationship with Tuberville, contending she did not have a “read out” of their interactions “at this time.”
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“The president has multiple conversations with senators and House members regularly, I just don’t have anything on this particular senator, if there’s been a conversation in the past,” she said.
The White House has increased its criticism of Tuberville amid his blockade of military promotions. In response, a spokesman for the senator has scrutinized the Biden administration for “politicizing the military” and for being more concerned with “about 260 generals and admirals than about tens of thousands of missing recruits.”