White House dances around Biden concern about speaker fight

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced a barrage of questions on Wednesday about Tuesday’s ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) but repeatedly declined to characterize President Joe Biden’s feelings about the situation.
Earlier in the day, Biden told reporters that he was concerned that the “dysfunction” on display in the House might jeopardize his legislative agenda and future aid for Ukraine.
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“The president hopes the house will quickly elect a speaker because the urgent challenges facing our nation will not wait,” Jean-Pierre said at the top of her briefing. “Once the House meets their responsibilities to elect the speaker, President Biden looks forward to working together with them and members of both parties in Congress in good faith on behalf of the American people.”
Pressed by reporters, Jean-Pierre declined to describe Biden’s relationships with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Steve Scalise (R-LA), the two Republicans who have declared their candidacy for speaker, and she also would not answer a question about whether the possibility of a “Speaker Trump” had been discussed internally at the White House.
Rep. Marjorie Ta …