State Department Deputy Press Secretary Marie Harf was criticized by reporters for opening the brief Thursday in a partisan manner. Harf began by pointing blame at the House of Representatives and its Republican members for the government shutdown.
This type of partisan commentary on domestic issues is unusual to find in a State Department briefing, and continues the trend of a rough second term for the Obama administration.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
Q: And do you think that in, essentially, criticizing Congress, which you, it seems to me, have just been doing for not -- for allowing the government to shut down, and hence potentially delaying all these things, including embassy security, that it's going to be easier for you to get funding for embassy security going forward?
HARF: I don't understand the point of your question, sir.
Q: Well, does it help your cause -- well, does it help your cause with Congress, which ultimately funds all -- or doesn't fund all of your activities -- to essentially start the briefing by criticizing them for the shutdown?
HARF: Well, I think I'd make a few points. The first is, all of us in the administration believe that it's our obligation to be clear with the American people about how the shutdown is affecting the government that represents them.
So this isn't about trying to point fingers. This isn't about – not necessarily negative. It's about the reality we're facing. And if we go forward and we continue in the shutdown, we believe we owe it to the American people to know what their government can and cannot do on their behalf because of that situation. The second point I would make
Q: You don't think you were pointing fingers?
HARF: Well, the second point I would make is that Congress, when they want to, have the ability to come together and actually get things done. So just yesterday they voted to extend the Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa program that had lapsed at the end of the fiscal year, to keep that program running, to -- and it's a program we've talked about a lot in here -- but to keep that program running, to allow Iraqis who've worked at the United States to come -- to come to America.
So they have the ability to work together. We've seen them do it in the past. We work closely with Congress on a whole host of issues. But I think the severity of the situation should not be -- should not be overlooked, and you heard Undersecretary Sherman talk about this today quite a bit.