White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she’s been monitoring Britney Spears’ fight to end her conservatorship, but wouldn’t say whether President Joe Biden has.
CBS News correspondent Steve Portnoy asked Psaki at Wednesday’s press briefing where the administration stands on conservatorships, including the one that Spears said last week has ruled her life for 13 years.
“More than a million people in this country, according to reports, are living under a conservatorship or guardianship. The most famous case that’s come to light in the last few weeks is Britney Spears,” Portnoy began. “Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle say that maybe there ought to be some kind of federal law that governs these relationships. Is the White House ― does the White House have a view on this in any way?”
Psaki responded that she’s been “watching this case closely, as a point of privilege.”
“But I will have to talk to our counsel’s office on that, since you’re asking me a good legal question, but I don’t want to speak out of turn here,” she added.
A follow-up questioner asked whether Biden had been following Spears’ case as well.
“The president has been a bit busy,” Psaki said, jokingly adding: “But as a person with young children, I don’t have many places to go ... when I’m not with all of you.”
Spears, speaking to a California court last week, asked to end the conservatorship that has given her father, Jamie Spears, control over her life and finances since 2008. In her impassioned 20-minute testimony, she said the conservatorship is doing her “more harm than good.” The judge later denied her request.