Carney: I Have 'No Opinion' About Whether or Not Senate Should Pass Budget

Video follows below.

When asked by ABC's Jake Tapper if the senate should pass a budget, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded: "I don't have -- well, I don't have an opinion to express on how the Senate does its business with regards to this issue."

"The fact is, because of the negotiations over the debt ceiling, that resulted in the Budget Control Act, we have an unusual situation here in that the top lines for the budget going forward have already been set and agreed to by Republicans and Democrats alike," he added.

Tapper then clarified that he was not in fact asking for Carney's personal opinion, but rather the White House's opinion. "The position the White House has?"

Below is the rest of the painful exchange:

Carney: Well, I don't have --

Tapper: The White House has no opinion about whether or not the Senate should pass a budget? The president is going to produce one? The Fed says not having one is bad for growth but the White House has no opinion about whether --

Carney:I have no opinion, and the White House has no opinion on Chairman Bernanke's assessment of how the Senate ought to do its business. What the president believes is important is that the Budget Control Act that was signed into law by him last year provides the top line spending caps for the coming budget and he will, obviously, need those when the budget is put forward and he looks forward to the Senate acting on the policy initiatives contained within his budget that will reflect the priorities he laid out in the State of the Union. And also will reflect the priorities he laid out when he put forward his deficit and debt reduction proposal back in September. So I don't think there is any -- there will be, nor is there now any doubt about the president's view on where we ought to move with the budget.