The White House does not believe sanctions against the ICC is the right approach, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said during a news briefing on Tuesday.
“We obviously don’t believe the ICC has jurisdiction and certainly don’t support these warrants, and we’ve said that before,” Kirby said. “We don’t believe, though, that sanctioning the ICC is the answer.”
Last week, while testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated he’d be open to working with Congress on bipartisan sanctions against the ICC depending on legislation Congress brought forward.
In a news conference last week, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress is reviewing all of its legislative options to impose sanctions on the ICC as quickly as possible because “America should punish the ICC and put Karem Khan back in his place.”
Biden administration to work on bipartisan response to ICC
During last Wednesday’s White House news briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the administration is in consultation on a “bipartisan, bicameral basis with the Hill on all of the options for how to respond to what the ICC has just done.”
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified Sullivan’s remarks, saying the White House will work with Congress on options other than sanctions to address the “overreach that we see by the ICC to apply for warrants against Israeli officials.”