Psaki questioned on relief package push despite high jobs numbers

In a White House press conference on Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki was questioned on why pandemic relief packages are still being pushed despite high jobs numbers being reported.

"If the economy is so great, and you guys are celebrating jobs being created at a historic…" Fox News’ Peter Doocy started before Psaki interrupted, "Wouldn’t you say over 900,000 jobs created is pretty good?"

"Why then is the president still pushing for big relief packages, pandemic-era relief packages like the eviction moratorium? Doocy asked.

"First I would say, one of the biggest pieces of legislation he’s pushing for as we know is the infrastructure package, and also the build back better agenda," said Psaki. "Most of the components in those packages are longterm investments. They’re overdue, they’re meant to modernize our infrastructure, put people back to work over the longterm, and make us more competitive over the longterm."

"It is still a reality, even with a good jobs number this month, and even with four million jobs created over six months, that there are still people out of work. There are still people who don’t have enough money to make ends meet," she continued. "That’s one of the reasons why we designed the American Rescue Plan to have a longterm spread out impact. Whether it’s the child tax credit, or benefits that are going to schools that are spread out over the course of a year, cause we are still in a recovery."

The question came as a new eviction moratorium was ordered by the CDC in "communities with substantial or high levels of community transmission of COVID-19 to prevent the further spread of COVID-19."

The order prompted backlash from organizations like the National Association of Realtors, where their Alabama and Georgia associations filed an emergency motion Wednesday night with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the judge to enforce the US Supreme Court’s recent order that the CDC could not extend the moratorium without new legislation.