Biden White House holds final press briefing

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday held the last of 537 press briefings during the Biden administration, delivering emotional remarks from the podium and acknowledging the role of a free press in democracy.

Jean-Pierre told reporters gathered in the briefing room that the Biden White House held 537 briefings, and that she personally conducted 306 of them. There are no further on-camera briefings scheduled during Biden’s final few days in office.

“We had the first briefing of this administration on Inauguration Day because President Joe Biden wanted to make clear the importance of daily briefings and the vital role that the press plays in our democracy,” Jean-Pierre said.

The room was full of familiar faces from the Biden press office. Former press secretary Jen Psaki stood in the back, as did a handful of former press aides who departed for other jobs in the administration and outside government.

Jean-Pierre acknowledged those former staffers, as well as those still in the press office, and she got emotional and she talked about spending more time with her daughter. Jean-Pierre replaced Psaki in May 2022, becoming the first Black and the first openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role.

Questions on Wednesday were focused on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was announced earlier in the afternoon.

The Biden White House restored the tradition of holding press briefings on an almost daily basis after the Trump White House upended the routine. Former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham did not hold a single on-camera briefing during her tenure, and her replacement, Kayleigh McEnany, held them sporadically during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is set to make history as the youngest person to ever hold the position. She has mused about shaking up the seating arrangement in the briefing room and giving access to less traditional media outlets, but nothing has been finalized.

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