U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meet on Jan.
Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday for the short time he was anesthetized for a routine colonoscopy, the White House said.
The temporary power delegation to Harris made her temporarily the first incumbent president in US history. Biden resumed his role as president before noon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Psaki had stated in a press release that the same process was carried out in 2002 and 2007 when then President George W. Bush underwent the same medical treatment.
“The vice president will be working from her office in the west wing during this time,” said Psaki on Friday morning.
Former President Donald Trump, 75, has reportedly turned down anesthesia for a medical procedure precisely because he did not want to hand over power to then-Vice President Mike Pence, according to a book by third press officer Stephanie Grisham.
The White House said it would release a written summary of the physical condition of 78-year-old Biden later Friday afternoon. Biden, the oldest president to take office, turns 79 on Saturday.
Biden’s motorcade arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before 9 a.m. ET.
At 11:35 am, Biden spoke to Harris and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, “and resumed his duties at that point,” Psaki tweeted. Biden will stay with Walter Reed for the duration of his investigation, she said.
In a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. – the second senior Senate official after Harris – Biden stated, “Today I will have a routine medical procedure that will require sedation.”
“Given the current circumstances, I have decided to temporarily transfer the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States to the Vice President during the brief period of trial and recovery,” Biden said in the letter shared by the White House on on early afternoon Friday.
“In accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, this letter constitutes my written declaration that I am currently unable to perform the powers and duties of the President of the United States,” wrote Biden.
“Pursuant to Section 3, the Vice President shall exercise these powers and duties as the Acting President until I send you a written statement stating that I can resume exercising those powers and duties,” the letter reads.
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