“This is a mess that Speaker Johnson created,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday. “This is his mess to fix. There was a deal on the table. There was a bipartisan deal, a bipartisan deal. In this day and age, they were able to come up with a bipartisan deal and, you know, that agreement, Speaker Johnson needs to stick to. He needs to hold his commitment to that agreement.”

Although Jean-Pierre reiterated the White House’s criticism of Johnson, she also scrutinized Trump and Musk when asked about Democrats describing Musk as Trump’s co-president, a strategy to undermine Trump.

“Congressional Republicans, at the direction, and you all know this, you all reported this, of President Trump and Elon Musk are trying to pave the way, what they’re doing is trying to pave the way [to add] $5 trillion to our national debt,” she said. “That’s what this decision does. I mean you’re talking about tax cuts for billionaires, slashing Social Security, slashing Medicare, slashing Head Start. Congressional Republicans did what they did because of what the president-elect said and what Elon Musk said.”

Jean-Pierre contended with repeated questions about Biden’s leadership during the negotiations, aside from telephone discussions with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Biden has remained quiet, even after Trump and Musk’s opposition to the bipartisan deal, with his press secretary defending the strategy and declining to preview whether he would speak publicly before or after the possible shutdown. Jean-Pierre, herself, released a statement on his behalf on Thursday night.

“All Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here, and they are the ones who have created this mess,” Jean-Pierre said. “This is not the first time we’ve been here, and the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works. He’s been around for some time. He understands what strategy works here to get this done.

“The president is the president of the United States, and he is leading,” she added. “You’re hearing what I’m saying, right? I speak for the president of the United States. … I’m speaking directly for him.”

Simultaneously, Jean-Pierre declined to engage in hypotheticals regarding the shutdown, expressing optimism that there was still time for a deal. At the same time, she conceded that “transition activities will be restricted” and “with limited exceptions.”

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“We can continue to have this smooth transition of power if they stop threatening a shutdown,” the spokeswoman said of the Jan. 20 inauguration.

House Republican negotiations concerning government funding are ongoing, with the conference considering its third plan on Friday afternoon before the midnight deadline.