WASHINGTON (AP) – Moving from house to house is a challenge in the best of circumstances, and even with first-class moving companies such as housewives and other staff working in the White House.
But the coronavirus pandemic could be a tricky factor, as the executive mansion prepares for a new president and performs the inaugural Day ritual of moving one leader and settling on another.
It is usually a precision operation: both movements are usually performed in about five hours. The clock would normally start ticking when 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 parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
“They basically have the trucks moving waiting at the doors of the White House,” said Matt Costello, a historian of the White House Historical Association. “And as soon as the president and the president-elect leave, they shake the trucks in motion and do the things of the outgoing president and unpack all the things of 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 that “they were preparing our closets this morning.”
But things will develop a little differently this year.
President Donald Trump, still angry at losing re-election, skips the inauguration. He also leaves town before Biden takes the oath of office, meaning the couple will not go to the Capitol together. Depending on when Trump comes out, the teachers at home and the rest of the residence staff who help move the presidents ’belongings could have a good initial exit in packing and unpacking.
Opening planners have narrowed down the traditional list of events this year due to the pandemic, which is now responsible for nearly 400,000 deaths in the U.S. Lunch has been stopped for the new president at the Capitol and the parade for hours along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House will be virtual.
This combination of past events has kept the new president and first lady out of the White House long enough for household staff to finish moving with clothing, furniture and other personal items.
The pandemic can affect the moving process in other ways.
Some public health experts have said it is important for the White House to take additional precautions to reduce the spread of the disease primarily from the air during the transition.
The White House was the scene of several coronavirus outbreaks that infected dozens of officials and others, including Trump and his wife, Melania. Biden is at risk due to his age. The 78-year-old is regularly screened for coronavirus and has recently received his final dose of vaccine.
Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech with experience in airborne transmission of viruses such as coronavirus, said domestic employees and other staff members should make sure to wear facial coating because they will exercise during five or six hours which usually take to complete the movement.
“There will be a lot of people there moving and getting things in,” he said. “I would like to make sure that these people are masked, covering their noses and mouths at all times. They are going to exercise because they are going to move things ”.
Marr also suggested that the bidens wait a few hours after completing the transfer to enter the residence.
The White House usually cleans itself thoroughly between families, said Anita McBride, who as an aide to President George W. Bush helped coordinate her exit from the mansion in 2009.
“Everything goes through a massive cleanup,” he said. Beds are stripped, mattresses are changed, carpets are cleaned or changed, and layers of fresh paint are applied as needed.
The main White House usher, who oversees the maintenance staff, usually coordinates with someone from the incoming president’s team to know their preferences, so that the residence can feel as at home as possible. , with clothes hanging in closets and favorite foods. in the kitchen.
Once the waiting moving trucks move through security and arrive at the White House grounds, the residence staff members are divided into groups to perform specific tasks. Some will handle only Trump belongings, while others will be responsible for placing the contents of Biden boxes in their designated places.
The main bearer reports Melania Trump, who toured White House housing 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 meeting.
___
Aamer Madhani, a writer for the Associated Press in Chicago, contributed to this report.