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Moving from house to house is challenging under the best of circumstances, and even with top-notch moves like housekeepers and other staff working in the White House.
But the coronavirus pandemic could be a complicating factor as the executive mansion prepares for a new president and executes the Inauguration Day ritual of moving in one leader and settling in another.
Gerald Herbert / AP
Depending on when Trump leaves Washington, residence employees helping move the presidents’ belongings could have a head start on packing and unpacking.
It is usually a precision operation: both movements usually take about five hours.
The clock would normally start ticking when the outgoing and incoming presidents leave the White House together to head to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. The process would continue during the ceremony and the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
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“They basically have the moving trucks waiting outside the doors of the White House,” said Matt Costello, a historian for the White House Historical Association. “And as soon as the president and president-elect leave, they greet the moving trucks, they will pack the outgoing president’s things and then they will unpack all the things for the new first family.
Biden’s wife, Jill, said Friday that she and the president-elect had spent the past two months preparing to move out of their home in Wilmington, Delaware, and were “packing our closets this morning.”
But things will play out a little differently this year.
David Hume Kennerly / Getty Images
White House staff change the furniture in the Oval Office as newly elected Bill Clinton will be sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 1993.
President Donald Trump, still angry about losing re-election, will skip the inauguration. He also leaves town before Biden is sworn in, which means the couple will not go to the Capitol together.
Depending on when Trump leaves, housekeepers and other residence staff who help move the presidents’ belongings could have a head start on packing and unpacking.
Unveiling planners have shortened the traditional list of events this year due to the pandemic, which is now responsible for nearly 400,000 deaths in the United States.
A luncheon for the new president on Capitol Hill has been ruled out, and the hour-long parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House will be virtual.
That combination of events in the past has kept the new president and the first lady out of the White House long enough for domestic staff to finish moving in with their clothing, furniture and other personal items.
The pandemic could affect the moving process in other ways.
David Stephenson / Getty Images
Moving vans parked in front of the White House on President Barack Obama’s inauguration day on January 20, 2009.
Some public health experts have said it is important for the White House to take extra precautions to reduce the spread of the largely airborne disease during the move.
The White House was the scene of several coronavirus outbreaks that infected dozens of employees and others, including Trump and his wife, Melania. Biden is at risk because of his age. The 78-year-old is regularly tested for the coronavirus and recently received his final dose of the vaccine.
Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech with experience in airborne transmission of viruses like coronavirus, said housekeepers and other staff should make sure to wear face covers because they will strain for the five to six hours it usually takes. to complete the move.
“There will be a lot of people moving things in and out,” he said. “I would like to make sure these people are masked, covering their nose and mouth at all times. They are going to make an effort because they are going to move things ”.
Marr also suggested that the Bidens wait a few hours after the move is complete to enter the residence.
Marcio José Sánchez / AP
Given Joe Biden’s age, it is important that the White House take extra precautions to reduce the spread of the disease, much of it airborne, during the busy scene.
The White House is typically thoroughly cleaned between families, said Anita McBride, who as an aide to President George W Bush helped coordinate his move from the mansion in 2009.
“Everything goes through a massive cleanup,” he said. Beds are removed, mattresses are replaced, carpets are cleaned or replaced, and new coats of paint are applied as needed.
The White House chief usher, who oversees the cleaning staff, usually coordinates with someone on the incoming president’s team to find out their preferences so that the residence can be made to feel as much at home as possible, with hanging clothes. in cabinets and favorite foods. in the kitchen.
Once the waiting moving trucks pass through tight security and enter the White House grounds, the residence staff members divide into groups to perform specific tasks. Some will handle only Trump’s belongings, while others will be tasked with placing the contents of Biden’s boxes in their designated locations.
The lead usher reports to Melania Trump, who toured the White House homes in November 2016 when she accompanied Donald Trump to the White House for a post-election meeting with then-President Barack Obama.
President Trump has broken with tradition and has not invited the Bidens to a similar gathering.
Associated Press journalist Aamer Madhani in Chicago contributed to this report.
