Robert Gibbs was surprisingly noncommittal when asked today if President Obama approves of the job that the Democratic-led Congress is doing.

The president has just signed the controversial omnibus bill, which he earlier called "imperfect." Some had urged him to consider a veto of the bill in the name of fiscal responsibility, considering thousands of earmarks and significant increases in spending. But the White House never budged, saying he would sign it because it represented leftover business of the previous Congress.

Obama himself had offered a measure of criticism for so many spending measures being unfinished. So, Gibbs was asked today, does Obama approve of how Congress is performing?

"I do not know if he was called in the Gallup poll that shows that Congress' approval rating is at a four year high," Gibbs deadpanned. "I do not believe he was among the thousand or so respondents."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi had joined Obama today for the announcement of a White House Council on Women and Girls. One might ask how she and her Senate counterpart, Harry Reid, felt about the non-answer.