Thursday 2 June 2022 10:28 PM Karine Jean-Pierre struggles to answer questions on formula shortage for second ... trends now

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't say on Thursday why President Joe Biden wasn't informed about the baby formula shortage until April as she again struggled to answer question about the administration's response to the crisis.

Jean-Pierre was quizzed repeatedly during her daily press briefing on what the president knew, when he knew it, and who exactly told him.

And she gave evasive answers, saying it was 'senior staff' who went through 'regular channels' to deliver the information.

Her lack of details prompted one White House correspondent to warn her that the journalists would keep pressing her for specifics.  

It's not unusual for senior staff to be aware of an issue before the president is made aware of it, given the variety of items an administration deals with on any day. The Biden administration was also dealing with the war in the Ukraine, rising inflation, and supply chain issues. Biden also traveled to Brussels and Poland in March.

But Jean-Pierre also wouldn't say who decided to bring it to Biden, what date it happened, and how it's determined to flag information for the president. 

'The president deals with issues on a regular basis, and that boils up to him. And it's just - there's no specific person that I can call out to you. But it's the regular way that we move forward through the regular channels. I don't have a specific person but that's kind of how it goes on any issue, not just this one. It goes through regular channels and senior White House staff,' she said.

It was the second day in a row Jean-Pierre struggled to answer questions about the administration's response to the crisis as the White House has come under fire for not acting quickly enough to get formula on shelves.

She was grilled by reporters on Wednesday and had no additional answers when asked about the issue again on Thursday.

Jean-Pierre, the chief spokesperson for the president, didn't answer when repeatedly asked when the president was told and if he was disappointed or frustrated the information took so long to reach him - particularly after formual manufacturers told him during a meeting on Wednesday they predicted the shortfall as soon as Abbott Nutrition closed its plant.

She also blamed the crisis on Abbott, which had to close its Michigan plant in February after bacteria contamination, and the Food and Drug Administration.

'The FDA moved too slowly,' she said.

Washington Post's Tyler Pager followed up, saying she wasn't answerng his question: 'That doesn't answer the question about when the president was informed and whether or not he is satisfied with his staff.'

'I'm telling you the process. I'm telling you what happened. I'm telling you that the FDA moved too slowly. I'm telling you that this happened on the side of Abbott and this what FDA tried to do,' Jean-Pierre responded. 'You may not like my answer, but that is the way that we see it in answering your question there.'

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell asked her again, saying without a specific answer it looked like the administration was being 'evasive.' 

'Can we asked you to go back on the issue of who briefed the president on baby formula. To say there was no specific person is not a satisfactory answer. When you have senior assistants to the President. There is a paper trail I'm sure about briefings to the president. There's a Domestic Policy Council. There's a Chief of Staff. At some point we need to know who would have been the most likely person to talk to him,' she said.

Jean-Pierre responded: 'I think what what I'm trying to say there's so many issues that come up.' 

O'Donnell pressed her again. 

'It looks evasive not to not have the most senior people in the White House willing to say I had a conversation with the president about it,' she said, adding: 'We're also all reporting on the consumer side of it, of what you're doing, putting out and trying to get information. But we're also trying to understand the information flow in this White House and it's important for us to get that answer which is why we're going to keep asking.'

'You have every right to keep asking,' Jean-Pierre told her. 'That's why I'm here.'

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has launched an audit into the FDA's actions around the February closure of Abbott's plant. The Department Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General announced the audit, which will also examine the Food and Drug Administration's decision to recall baby formula.

The review will examine whether the FDA upheld its duty 'to safeguard the nation's food supply, including infant formula and ensure all ingredients are safe,' the IG office said.

The Sturgis, Michigan, plant was shut down in February after contamination issues inside were linked to four infants being hospitalized with a rare bacterial infection. Two of the infants died.

But the closure also triggered a nation-wide shortage of baby formula, leading to empty grocery store shelves and frantic parents. 

The findings from the review are expected until 2023. 

But the announcement comes amid national outrage about the formula shortage and why the Biden administration wasn't more prepared to counter it.

The White House has struggled to explain its response, its monitoring of the formula, and its overhandling of the job.

The administration has emphasized the safety issue aspect of baby formula, touted its recent work in importing formula from Europe and Australia, and even launched a website to brag about its 'progress by the numbers.' 

But what officials can't say is when the shortage will end.

Questions about Abbott's quality control and sanitation issues have been raised by the federal agency for months.