Good afternoon, everyone.
Good afternoon.
We are now in day three of the Democrat led government shutdown. The Democrats continue to recklessly hold the American people hostage over their demands to give illegal aliens free health care. Republicans are fully unified behind passing nonpartisan, clean funding bill, the exact same bill that Democrats approved back in March to reopen the federal government.
But those same Senate Democrats are now voting against this clean funding bill in keeping the people's government closed. I understand Democrats will have an opportunity very shortly here to change course and we hope that they will. There are significant personal impacts on millions of Americans as a result of this current government shutdown.
The 1.3 million men and women of America's Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force who serve honorably and put their lives on the line to defend us all are not being paid. Military families are already seeking out food assistance because of financial anxiety caused by this shutdown.
According to new reporting from the Military Times, staff members at the Armed Services YMCA food pantry distribution location near Fort Hood in Texas found a line of military families stretched around the side of the building yesterday at 5:00 in the morning. According to the staff who work there, that has, quote, not happened ever.
They've already had a 34 percent increase this week over past weeks. President Trump and Republicans fundamentally believe we have a sacred responsibility to protect and provide for our military families with the resources they need to thrive. If Democrats believe in this very simple premise too, they should end this shutdown immediately.
Unfortunately, the severe impacts of the shutdown extend beyond our troops. Nearly seven million mothers, infants and low-income families who rely on government-run food assistance will be in jeopardy if the WIC program runs out of money in the weeks ahead. The more than 13,000 air traffic controllers who ensure that Americans fly safely in airports across the country are currently working without pay.
The National Flood Insurance Program is in danger of lapsing, which could leave families without necessary help if a disaster strikes, and we are in the middle of hurricane season. Critical services offered at Social Security field offices are reduced for senior citizens and disabled Americans. Helpful transition assistance programs are not being provided for veterans who fought to defend our country and are now trying to reenter civilian life.
The economic consequences of this shutdown are piling up every day. Policymakers, markets and even the Federal Reserve are flying blind at a key juncture because BLS and BEA data are on hold until the government reopens. Democrats shutting down the federal government to give health care to illegal aliens could lead to lower growth and higher unemployment rates for Americans.
According to a new memo from the Council of Economic Advisers, the US -- US economy could lose $15 billion of gross domestic product each week, every single week the Democrat shutdown extends, with a month-long shutdown leading to an additional 43,000 unemployed people. Small businesses are likely to encounter delays in receiving federal loans.
Mortgage applications will likely shrink. And just this morning, Business Roundtable, an association of more than 200 CEOs of America's leading companies representing every sector of the US economy put out a statement urging Congress to pass the clean CR that will once again come before them in the Senate floor in just a few moments.
Quote, a fully functioning government is essential for American businesses, workers and consumers, while policymakers continue working on a full year funding package and other pressing issues. Again, that is a quote from the Business Roundtable. What's clear is that the Democrats' actions amount to an intentional sabotage of our country and our people by shutting down our government.
This madness must end. President Trump and Republicans are calling on Democrats to reopen the government immediately on behalf of the American public. All we need are five Democrat Senators to do the right thing and to stop this shutdown. Call your Democrat Senator and tell them to vote yes to reopen the government.
On another matter, despite the Democrats shutdown, President Trump's efforts to make America safe again continue. President Trump believes that American cities should be the safest places on Earth and he is committed to making this a reality. We've already seen that President Trump successfully made D.C. safe again in only a few weeks.
That same crime crackdown will continue to happen in cities across the country and is happening in Portland, Oregon. President Trump will end the radical left's reign of terror in Portland once and for all. The president has directed Secretary Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland and any ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other left-wing domestic terrorists.
What's been allowed to happen in Portland, and we saw disturbing video footage of this last night, this is not peaceful protesting. This is left-wing anarchy that has been destroying this great American city for years, leaving police officers battered citizens, terrorized and business properties damaged.
Since early June alone, Antifa terrorists have laid siege to the ICE field office in South Portland. These radical left-wing lunatics have violently breached the ICE facility by using a stop sign as a battering ram, hurled explosives and other projectiles at law enforcement, repeatedly assault and dox officers, berate their law-abiding neighbors and have even rolled out a guillotine in front of the ICE facility.
And more people should be reporting on that. President Trump has sent federal law enforcement to protect federal assets and arrest those fueling this violence. Just last night, we saw an extremely troubling incident where conservative journalist, Nick Sorter was captured on video being taken into custody by the Portland police after he was ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults.
But instead of arresting these violent mob members night after night after night who are ravaging this community, the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos, and everyone in this room should be extremely concerned about that. The Department of Justice spoke with that journalist this morning and they will be launching a full investigation into his arrest.
This incident is part of a troubling trend in Portland, where left-wing mobs believe they get to decide who can visit and live in their city. It is not their city, it is the American people's city and President Trump is going to restore that. I just spoke with the president about this and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland.
We will not fund states that allow anarchy. There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately, including enhanced CBP and ICE resources. Law and order will prevail and President Trump will make sure of it. With that, I'll take your questions and we will begin today's briefing with our new media seat, Amanda Head from Just the News.
Amanda, thank you for being here.
Thank you, Karoline. On that most recent topic that you mentioned, reportedly, Portland police have not been able to engage protesters to the degree that they normally would. Does the president plan on handling this from that angle as well with city leaders?
Yes. From our understanding, the law enforcement that we have here in the Homeland Security Task Force, I spoke with them this morning. And what they're seeing is that unfortunately local police has been restricted from responding or cooperating at all with federal authorities, which is completely absurd.
We have surged federal law enforcement personnel to this city to restore law and order and to work alongside local law enforcement. And we've seen the benefits of this in Washington, D.C. And all of you live here, so you can agree. Washington D.C. is and feels much safer because of the cooperation between federal and local law enforcement.
They can and must be working together and we think it's despicable that these local elected officials who swear an oath to protect their people are preventing law enforcement from doing their jobs on the ground. So that's why the president has directed his team here at the White House and they are already on it to look in to how we can cut funds.
And the president wants to work with anyone. If the mayor of Portland were to call him right now and say, Mr. President, please help us, I am sure the president would be willing to do that. He is genuinely serious about wanting to restore order in America's cities, but it's become apparent that the local and elected officials in Oregon do not feel the same.
And that's very unfortunate for the people who live there.
Yeah. And then one more question on the government shutdown. Should there be some type of scheduled layoffs to maybe entice Democrats to come to the table, like every hour, another agency, another 100 pink slips? I'm sure Russ Vought has a list of folks ready to go.
Well, look, the Office of Management and Budget, as we've said repeatedly, is working with the agencies and our cabinet secretaries to identify where cuts unfortunately can and have to be made. And again, we understand there's another vote happening on the Senate floor in an hour. Maybe if Democrats do the right thing, this government shutdown can be over, our troops can get paid again, we can go back to doing the business of the American people.
But if this shutdown continues, as we've said, layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of that. And Russ Vought has been in contact with our cabinet secretaries at their respective agencies to discuss that.
Great.
Thank you, Amanda. Kelly.
How would this administration define what makes a Democrat agency, which agencies, and what constitutes being a Democrat agency?
I think this administration has been very clear, Kelly, that we're not going to tolerate waste, fraud and abuse in our government. And we've also been very clear to point out when agencies or when programs do not align with this administration's values of putting our country first. You've seen that with USAID and in various other cases where there's been cuts made or funding has been slashed.
And so again, unfortunately, we're having to do a massive review of the bureaucracy to be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar. And it's the Democrats who have forced the White House and the President into this position by voting to shut the government down.
You've talked about thousands likely layoffs coming. Do you have an update on the timeline for that? How quickly? And if the government is restored to funding and back in operation, will that list of potential layoffs still be on the table?
Look, as I just stated, the Office of Management and Budget is in constant communication and contact right now with our cabinet secretaries and agencies across the board to identify, unfortunately, where layoffs have to be made and where cuts have to happen. But again, the Democrats have an opportunity to prevent this if they vote to reopen the government.
That is all this administration and the president is asking for vote for a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. Peter?
Thank you, Karoline. During the campaign --
Thank you, Peter.
I was raised to say thank you in the White House briefing room. Um, during the campaign President Trump said that he did not know anything about Project 2025. Now he knows about it, is that the blueprint for shrinking the government?
Look, the blueprint is what the president and his team and his cabinet secretaries ultimately decide and the president trusts his cabinet secretaries to identify where there is waste fraud and abuse. Um, we pointed out this morning or Russ tweeted about this morning a Chicago rail project that was canceled.
We paused $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, specifically the Red Line extension and the Red and Purple modernization projects. Um, and it's because the administration is concerned that the Biden administration was handing out taxpayer dollars to pay for this construction based on DEI. DOT is reviewing the race-based contracting on unconstitutional grounds.
And in the meantime, the Department of Transportation funds for these projects are on hold. So I guess this answers both of your questions. This would be an example of that.
And just because there's so much shutdown, talk something different, what do you guys think about the NFL's decision to name Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime performers, somebody who has not scheduled shows in the US because he says that he is worried that ICE is going to come and arrest his fans?
Well, look, I know there are many in this room who are very anxious to hear the president's response to Bad Bunny being the halftime show. So I won't get ahead of him. I won't reveal what he feels about this. Next time you all ask him a question you're welcome to do that. I have my own feelings on that, but that's not what I'm up here to talk about.
As far as ICE being at the Super Bowl, as far as I'm aware, there's no tangible plan for that in store right now. However, of course, this administration is always going to arrest and deport illegal immigrants when we find them, if they are criminals. We're going to do the right thing by our country. Kate.
OK.
Did the president and Russ Vought decide yesterday in their meeting which cuts they wanted to make to agencies and which ones would be permanent?
Again, I've kind of answered this question a few different times now. It's been asked in a few different ways. There are discussions continue between the Office of Management and Budget and cabinet agencies across the board and they are actively identifying where these cuts and these layoffs have to be made as this government shutdown hopefully does not continue.
And on Hamas, the president said that if Hamas rejects the proposal that Netanyahu would have his full backing to finish the job, a UN report found that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Does the president have concerns about the civilians being killed, the worsening humanitarian crisis? And are there limits to what the White House would support when it comes to Israel's actions in Gaza?
Look, the president has deep concerns about all of the atrocities that have taken place in the Middle East over the past few years. It's deeply unfortunate that he inherited this mess from the Biden administration. If you all recall under President Trump in his first term, the Middle East was on a pathway for peace and prosperity.
There was the historic signing of the Abraham Accords, Israel was on a path to normalization between Arab and Gulf nations and we hope that can continue. But right now, the president has made it very clear to Hamas that this is an acceptable and detailed proposal that they must accept -- accept or the consequences are going to be very grave for them.
And he has given them a deadline of Sunday evening at 6 p.m. When I was out here on Wednesday, I told all of you, I'll leave it to the president to make that red line. And he now has. I think the entire world should hear the president of the United States loud and clear and Hamas has an opportunity to accept this plan and to move forward in a peaceful and prosperous manner in the region.
And if they don't, the -- the consequences unfortunately are going to be very tragic. Michael?
Thank you, Karoline. Has the president declared war on international drug cartels? And if so or if he will, does he feel he needs Congressional approval?
As the White House has said many times, the president has directed these actions, these strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels and these boats. Consistent with his responsibility to protect the United States interests abroad and in furtherance of the US national security and foreign policy interests. This is pursuant to his constitutional authority as commander in chief and the chief executive to conduct foreign relations.
In each of these cases, Michael, the vessels have been assessed by the US intelligence community to be affiliated with designated terrorist organizations engaged at the time in trafficking illicit drugs to our country. The president has been very clear, dating back to the campaign trail that he is always going to do what's in the best interest of the American homeland and he also promised the American people he was going to end the drug epidemic that has taken far too many American lives.
And you're seeing those actions play out almost every single day here.
Last question on the shutdown, Karoline, Hakeem Jeffries has said that President Trump is in the presidential witness protection program since the shutdown has begun. What's the White House's reaction to that?
That's just more ridiculous fodder from Hakeem Jeffries. Uh, as you all know, because you're here every day the president is literally working around the clock right now. I think he has a swearing in ceremony or he already did. He has several meetings on the books today. He literally works 24/7. Anyone who works in this place or covers this place as you all do knows that to be true and Hakeem Jeffries in the Senate Democrats should get back to work in a few minutes and vote to reopen the government.
Emily?
Thank you, Karoline. You spoke earlier about the energy and infrastructure projects that Director Vought paused. Will the White House agree to restore that funding as part of a deal to end the shutdown?
Well, I won't make any agreements here. Senate Republicans are talking with their colleagues on the Democrat side, but right now, Russ Vought is doing what he's been tasked to do in the midst of this government shutdown, which is to look at funds that need to be temporarily halted or need to be canceled.
And Chicago is just another example of that.
Karoline.
Go to Libby in the back.
Thank you. I have two questions for you. One on the FDA, but first on the shutdown.
Sure.
Will the administration if this government shut down and still move forward with firing thousands of federal workers?
Look, as I've said repeatedly, Libby, right now, we want the government to be open. Layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of a government shutdown and it's something the administration is examining. If the government is reopened, we're going to get back to doing what we were doing last week. And the week before working on the issues that the American people care about.
And then on the FDA, they just approved that new abortion pill and it's causing a lot of uproar among Republicans. Is -- what is the president's response to that? And does the administration plan to have that that FDA approval?
Well, the secretary of Health and Human Services, Bobby Kennedy, has put out several statements on this. The HHS's decision, it's not an endorsement of this drug by any means. They are just simply following the law and as they put out in their statement by law, the secretary of Health and Human Services must approve a generic drug application if the application demonstrates the generic drug is the "same as the brand name drug." Generic applicants are not required to submit independent evidence proving safety and effectiveness.
As such, FDA's decision to approve a second generic version does not address the merits of the current safety program. HHS is reviewing adverse effects to ensure the FDA's required safety program for the drug is sufficient to protect women. The safety review equally applies to generic versions. Of this drug, so FDA and HHS are following the law.
It's, again, not an endorsement of the drug itself. Mary?
Thanks. Going to questions on the shutdown. You've argued that these impending layoffs are necessary to keep essential services up and running, but that has never been the case in any previous shutdown. Even when the government was shut down for 35 days in Trump's first term. You've never had to layoff thousands of workers to keep essential services up and running.
So why are layoffs now necessary in this shutdown?
Because we have an administration and we have a president who are wholeheartedly focused on restoring fiscal sanity to our government and doing the right thing by the American taxpayer. We are $37 trillion in debt and the federal government is currently shut down. There is no more money coming into the federal government's coffers.
And as you've also seen since the beginning in January, this administration is focusing on waste, fraud and abuse. And so Democrats have given this administration, um, an unenviable choice to have to take a look at the balance sheet and identify where these cuts and layoffs can be made.
And you just said this is an unenviable choice that this is an unfortunate consequence, but the president has described this as an unprecedented opportunity to lay off additional workers. He's posted a video likening Russ Vought to the Grim Reaper. So which is this? Is this an opportunity to hire more workers or an unfortunate consequence?
Look, the president likes to have a little fun every now and then and I think both things can be true at the same time. The Democrats have given the administration this opportunity and we don't like laying people off. Nobody takes joy in that around here. And if you think that then I think that's very sad.
You view the White House and our staff as wanting to put people out of work, nobody wants to do that, but sometimes government, you have to make tough decisions. Carrie?
Going back to Portland, as far as the city council there is concerned, they appear to be very sympathetic towards the protesters over at the ICE facility. Is the White House considering invoking the Insurrection Act over in Portland? Is that something they are considering? Also, as far as the Portland City Council is concerned, are they looking at the members there who appear to be helping out the protesters, as far as suggesting to get burner phones etc., etc.?
That's not something I've heard that's under consideration or discussion at this time.
Karoline? Karoline?
Sure. Who's ever yelling in the back, go ahead.
Me.
Sure.
Thank you. Bianca Garcia here, and I have a question. This week the Democrats have chosen illegals over hard working Hispanic Americans during Hispanic Heritage Month, causing the White House to cancel the celebration with the president. Is the president open to letting the Hispanics who overwhelmingly voted for him have their own Siesta Fiesta in the White House lawn opposed to the fancy -- you know, we don't need fancy, schmancy, right?
You can give us the backyard and we'll fill it all in and having our own fiesta. Is the president open to that?
I had no idea she was going to ask that question. I just want to preface that. I've never met you. I just want to say that, but welcome to the briefing room. I love your energy. I can't personally unilaterally promise the South Lawn grounds. We have some construction going on out there, but I do think -- I know that everyone here views it as very unfortunate we had to cancel or hopefully just reschedule the Hispanic American Heritage Month event.
And it's because we are working around the clock during this government shutdown. So when the Democrats vote to reopen the government, that event will be back in the planning stages.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Brian, go ahead.
Thank you very much. Welcome to the briefing room, by the way. I was with the Secretary of War and the attorney general in Memphis just the other day, as we were going to a command center, and I noticed a billboard along the highway that said Memphis welcomes the National Guard. Now, what is your message today to Democrat mayors watching us right now, that suffer from TDS and they cannot get Trump out of the way to saving their city, Portland being one of them?
They should do the right thing by their citizens, Brian. They should call the president, they should call the White House and say we want to work with you. And in Memphis, we are seeing some cooperation as you saw from that billboard. The people of Memphis are loving this and they are very grateful for the federal government's efforts.
And federal law enforcement is there. We're working alongside local law enforcement. We'd like to see it ramped up a little bit because we want to make progress and we want to arrest as many bad criminals as we can. Since Monday -- I do have some updated statistics from the Homeland Security Council this morning.
Since Monday, 153 arrests have been made in Memphis, including five gang members. 48 illegal guns have been seized and five missing children have already been recovered. Last night, 60 arrests were made and 21 illegal firearms were seized. Arrests from last night include a suspect wanted for rape of a child under 13, first degree murder, breaking and entering, aggravated assault, illegal drug possession and many more.
So we continue to see good results coming in through Memphis and the president is very excited about making Memphis safe again. In the blue.
Thank you. At the top of the briefing you made a statement about that the Democrats are interested in giving health care to illegal immigrants.
Yes, they are.
US law already prohibits that. It's a 1996 law, saying that they cannot give unauthorized immigrants any federally subsidized health care coverage through Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act or the Children's Health Insurance Program. There seems to be a disconnect in the messaging.
Are you denying that Medicaid money has never gone to illegal aliens in the United States of America?
I'm not denying anything. I'm asking you if you can explain the disconnect in the messaging.
I most certainly can. The Democrats proposal, their continuing resolution -- let me just reiterate, the Republicans' continuing resolution was a clean continuing resolution. There was no partisan politics injected into it. There were no conservative wish lists injected to it. What the Republicans want, and still want to this very second, is a clean continuing resolution to fund the United States government.
What did the Democrats want in their continuing resolution? They inserted a provision to undo a provision in the Working Families Tax Cut, the One Big Beautiful Bill, that ended taxpayer funded health care, benefits for illegal aliens. Democrats proposal would require Medicaid to pay more for emergency care provided to illegal aliens than Medicaid does for American patients who are disabled, elderly or children.
And this bill would have also allowed California to continue a gimmick that funds its Medicaid for illegals program. Those are things that we ended, the Trump administration ended with the passage and the signage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. And it is an undisputed fact, a fact, that under the Biden administration, illegal aliens were absolutely receiving taxpayer-funded health care benefits.
In fact, in fiscal year 2024 Medicaid costs for emergency services for illegal immigrants skyrocketed by 142 percent from the previous year, to $9.1 billion. That's $9.1 billion taxpayer dollars that were going to emergency services for illegals. Between President Trump's last full fiscal year under his first administration, and Joe Biden's last full fiscal year, Medicaid spending on emergency services for illegal immigrants nearly tripled.
There was an increase of 196 percent between 2020 and 2024. And I have a chart here for you and I'm more than happy to email it to you. I'd also like to add, because some were asking dishonest questions yesterday about emergency rooms. In Southern California according to health care professionals, in 2023 under the Biden administration, Southern California's entire health care system was being bombarded with illegal immigrants and forcing American patients to endure longer wait times.
In Denver, Colorado, the CEO of Denver Health stated that 8,000 illegal immigrants made 20,000 visits to the city's health system in 2023, leaving an uncompensated bill totaling over $10 million. So when illegal alien goes to the emergency room, who's paying for it, the American taxpayer. The main safety net hospital in Denver had to turn away patients due to the massive influx of illegal immigrants into the community and UC health hospitals in 2024, reported their system was under stress from an increasing number of migrants.
As a result, according to the head of emergency departments and urgent cares across the hospital system, quote, access is impeded for everyone. These are health care professionals who dealt with this directly and there's a lot more where that came from. It is an undisputed fact that Democrats want to give taxpayer-funded health care benefits to illegal immigrants, period.
Ed.
Yeah, thank you, Karoline. Is the president talking directly to Democratic Senators to try and get their vote for a clean CR?
The Senate Republicans are speaking directly with moderate Democrats. I understand those conversations have become very serious and we hope positive, in the right direction so that Democrats will do the right thing.
And I don't know if you saw, overnight a refinery in California went up in flames. Is the president going to help the governor should gas prices spike, or could he help the governor?
Look, I know the administration and the White House are aware of that situation that took place. I don't have any announcements for you, Ed, on that.
[Inaudible] quickly.
Sure.
Has the president seen the first draft of the commemorative coin that the Treasury is doing for the 250th anniversary? It has his face on it.
Oh, I'm not sure if he's seen it, but I'm sure he'll love it.
Karoline?
Kara.
Thank you, Karoline. It's now being reported that former President Biden's DHS and TSA place peaceful January 6th protesters and even Americans who refused to wear masks during COVID onto watchlists usually reserved for terrorists. Most of these people were not charged with crimes. Does the White House have a comment on the prior administration violating the free speech and due process of these Americans?
And where is the outrage from the left that claims to stand for due process and free speech? And after that, I have another question about protecting journalists from Antifa.
Sure. Well, Kara, to your first point, please send me that report. That's certainly very concerning. I haven't seen it myself, but if indeed that was happening, it's something I'm sure the Department of Justice and the FBI would deem worthy of looking into.
I will. And journalists, as you mentioned earlier, are being increasingly attacked by leftist protesters. I was actually assaulted outside of President Trump's United Nations speech. And I think the White House is aware that a Portland journalist was almost blinded by an Antifa protester. This has been a problem that's gone on for years and police often say that their hands are tied.
Does the White House have a plan or plan on issuing a statement, maybe, discouraging this violence against journalists out on the street like me and so many others in this room?
Well, I hope that my statement earlier in the briefing served that purpose.
Yes.
But of course, we condemn violence against anyone in this country and journalists as well who are exercising their First Amendment right. And there have been so many incredible independent journalists across the country who have gone undercover within Antifa and really have come to understand how this is a growing domestic terrorism threat inside of our country.
And I would encourage maybe some of you in this room to get outside the Beltway and go do some of that undercover investigative reporting because it is really incredible what they found. I met with one of them in my office yesterday and they're doing very dangerous work in difficult circumstances. And Antifa is a very violent group, as you've experienced and many others in the media have as well.
Christian?
Yeah, thanks Karoline. Following up on Libby sort of on the other side of the abortion debate, has the president abandoned his campaign pledge to mandate insurance coverage for IVF services?
No.
Was there any update on that? We flew by that May EO deadline vying for the White House to produce a plan?
I literally just read a statement from the Health and Human Services on you -- for you. For Libby at least as far as IVF goes. I'll check in with our policy team and we'll get you some updates.
And on Russia, how concerned is the White House that the Russian Navy seems to be escalating its provocation of NATO allies? I'm talking of course to the several close calls they've had with the Danish military during the EU leaders meeting in Copenhagen?
It's something the administration takes very seriously and we are constantly monitoring it. The National Security Council here at the White House is in constant correspondence with our NATO allies and the president speaks to many of them as well. Yes?
We've seen a spate of gun violence in this country with mass shootings. We've seen this Michigan church that was attacked. Children being shot in pews in Minnesota. We've also seen politically motivated assassinations of Minnesota lawmakers, Charlie Kirk. Has any of this made the President or the White House rethink gun safety prevention in this country?
Either red flag laws? I know that that was a conversation in the first Trump administration. Or is there anything on the table right now on gun violence?
Um, of course this is an extremely pressing issue for the administration and our entire country. It's deeply alarming to everyone here, the violence that we've seen taking place all over the country, the assassinations that have unfortunately tragically taken place throughout the last several months. There are many discussions about how to prevent such violence and how we can ensure that law enforcement has the resources they can on the ground to not only respond, but again to prevent such tragedies from taking place.
If there are red flags with an individual in a community that they are treated as an emergency, a public safety emergency, not just, you know, turn a blind eye to. There's many other things we can do. But the administration and the president has always also made it clear. He's always going to protect the constitutional right, Second Amendment constitutional right of Americans to own and own guns.
Would he advocate for Congress to pass a federal red flag law? Right now they just incentivize states financially to have red flag laws. But I know Lindsey Graham has worked on this as a Republican. There are some Republicans that do support this kind of gun safety legislation.
I do want to get ahead of the president on any Congressional action or any suggestion to Congress on that matter. Andrew?
Thank you, Karoline. Two things, first a follow up on something you said earlier about hospitals treating undocumented or illegal aliens. Is it the administration's position that hospitals should not have to treat people who come into the emergency department who are not here legally?
No, that's not our position. Our position is that it's completely unacceptable that the Biden administration paroled and encouraged an invasion of tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country and then promised them free health care and the Democrats are on the record repeatedly stating that they believe illegal aliens should have health care benefits -- free health care benefits in the United States of America.
So that is a recipe for disaster. Of course you're going to encourage a mass, illegal invasion of our country, which is exactly what happened. And we've seen the unfortunate consequence of that where American patients are being put last, where American patients are having to wait in wait rooms where grandmothers and grandfathers are waiting hours and hours for care because they're being put behind the line to illegal aliens.
And we don't agree with that. We don't support that. That's why the administration is desperately trying to fix it and deport the tens of millions of illegal aliens that the Democrats and the Biden administration allowed into our country. And we'd love to continue doing that work. So long as the federal government is reopened.
And there are many federal law enforcement agents and officers right now who are working without pay, that's unacceptable. The Democrats need to reopen the United States government and we hope that they will do the right thing on the Senate floor in just a few moments. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Karoline.