President Joe Biden will transfer power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday for the brief period of time when he is under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy, the White House said.
Press secretary Jen Psaki noted in a statement to White House reporters that the same process was followed in 2002 and 2007, when then-President George W. Bush underwent the same medical procedure.
“The Vice President will work from her office in the West Wing during this time,” Psaki said in the statement Friday morning.
Former President Donald Trump reportedly refused anesthesia for a medical procedure, precisely because he did not want to hand power to then-Vice President Mike Pence, according to a book from his third press secretary, Stephanie Grisham.
The White House said it will publicly share a written summary of the 78-year-old Biden’s physical later Friday afternoon.
Biden’s motorcade arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before 9 a.m. ET.
