This White House is no stranger to playing the blame game. Russia's Vladimir Putin has been continuously blamed as gas prices and inflation reach record-high levels. Even President Joe Biden's own official Twitter account on Tuesday blamed the "Putin Price Hike" in a thread, as the president once more touted his tapping into the strategic oil reserves as a good thing. It's worth noting, though, that these problems have occurred long before Russia's unproved invasion of Ukraine in February. Now there's someone else to blame, for yet another problem. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has taken to blaming Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) for the supply chain crisis issues.
Psaki's statement begins by claiming that "Governor Abbott’s unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country."
While Psaki's statement complains about how the "continuous flow of legitimate trade and travel and CBP’s ability to do its job should not be obstructed," there is no mention of Abbott's motivation.
NEW: White House press sec. Jen Psaki says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “unnecessary and redundant” inspections of trucks at border are “causing significant disruptions” to supply chains. https://t.co/yLTElwctJS pic.twitter.com/vA2DUiysdZ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 13, 2022
Further, supply chain issues have been a problem for months. The Biden administration has memorably failed in handling this issue as well. As Katie covered last October, for instance, Psaki laughed at a reporter's question and gave a sarcastic response mentioning "the tragedy of the treadmill that's delayed."
Gov. Abbott has ordered trucks coming in from Mexico to have extra inspections. On April 6, he wrote to Colonel Steven C. McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety to carry out "enhanced safety inspections" of vehicles that pass through ports of entry, with his motivation having to do with "cartels that smuggle illicit contraband and people across our southern border."
As the letter to Col. McGraw references, such threats, including fentanyl, which is the number one killer of adults ages 18-45, are "projected to grow in the coming months." As Julio reported, the Biden administration, under which there have already been record-high amounts of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, is ending Title 42 as of May 23. The situation is only expected to get worse, as Julio further outlined.
A Wednesday evening report from the Associated Press indicates that Gov. Abbott plans to continue to allow for extra inspection.
From that report:
Abbott announced Wednesday that he would stop inspections at one bridge in Laredo after reaching an agreement with the governor of neighboring Nuevo Leon in Mexico. But some of the most dramatic truck backups and bridge closures have occurred elsewhere along Texas’ 1,200-mile border.
“I understand the concerns that businesses have trying to move product across the border,” Abbott said during a visit to Laredo. “But I also know well the frustration of my fellow Texans and my fellow Americans caused by the Biden administration not securing our border.”
Abbott said inbound commercial trucks elsewhere will continue to undergo thorough inspections by state troopers until leaders of Mexico’s three other neighboring states reach agreements with Texas over security. He did not spell out what those measures must entail.
When it comes to Nueva Leon, briefly mentioned above, Gov. Abbott on Wednesday from his official and campaign account, tweeted about such an agreement to do with border security in the form of a memorandum.
Until Biden enforces immigration laws, Texas will continue to use its own strategies to secure the border.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 13, 2022
This historic agreement between Texas & Nuevo León is a major step in the Lone Star State's efforts to secure the border in the federal government's absence. pic.twitter.com/2ycOWgRpRp
In addition to the "Greg Abbott" trend, Twitter noted that they were grouping "#BetoForGovernor" and "#AbbottFailedTexas" to trend alongside it.
Gov. Abbott has been in the news throughout this week. As Spencer covered earlier on Wednesday, the first bus of illegal immigrants from Texas arrived in Washington, D.C., fulfilling a plan from the border state governor of sending illegal immigrants closer to the president, so that such an influx would be harder to ignore.