Can someone open the door?

WASHINGTON – It was the climax of a transfer of power: President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walked down the driveway to their new home on Wednesday night, climbed the steps of the North Portico, greeted the crowd as a military band. played “Hail to the Chief,” turned inward – and found himself face to face with a closed door.

As the world watched and a small crowd of members of the Biden family came up behind them, the first couple waited.

Was the president supposed to open the pair of large wooden doors himself? Former President Donald J. Trump, who had left eight hours earlier, had he locked out?

Soon the doors opened and the Bidens entered. The awkward moment had only lasted a few seconds – about 10, if you time it – but it didn’t go unnoticed in Washington.

“There was a breach of protocol when the front doors were not kept open for the first family as they arrived at the North Portico,” said Lea Berman, who served as White House social secretary. for President George W. Bush.

“The delay in opening the door baffled me a bit,” said Betty Monkman, who was a Conservative in the White House for 30 years and helped oversee changes between previous administrations.

The breach turned out to be a small but curious disarray in the chaotic two and a half months between election day and inauguration day. Nothing was normal in the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, and the transfer of the White House to new occupants was no exception.

On the one hand, there was no chief bailiff to greet the Bidens on their arrival. While it is unclear exactly what caused the delay with the doors – which are normally opened by Navy Guards – the Chief White House usher, who manages the residence, had been fired less than five hours earlier.

Timothy Harleth, Trump’s chief bailiff and former room manager at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, was busy moving furniture on opening day when he was told at 11:30 a.m. that his services were no longer needed, people familiar with the process told me.

The new president’s advice called the White House council on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the process, and said the Bidens plan to bring their own. Mr. Harleth’s departure was first reported by CNN.

Mr. Harleth was chosen by Melania Trump in 2017, when she was first lady. His duties included managing personnel issues and overseeing the budgets of the family residence.

“He was selected because of his impressive work experience and management skills,” Ms. Trump said in 2017.

The job has traditionally been non-political, but Ms. Trump’s decision to hire a Trump Organization employee added partisanship to the role, even as Mr. Harleth tried to structure his work there as a step in a long way. career in the hospitality industry. The job at the White House has been well paid – former chief bailiffs say salaries are in the range of $ 200,000 – but the days are long, especially if the president is an early riser or a bird of prey. night; Mr. Trump was both. (Mr. Biden is not in the morning, say people familiar with his schedule.)

Since polling day, Mr Harleth had found himself in an untenable position: trying to begin preparations for a new White House resident, even as its occupant refused to admit he would leave the premises. Mr. Trump never met Mr. Biden in the White House, as tradition has it. Ms Trump also never invited Dr Biden to take a look at the residence prior to move-in day.

Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, was unhappy with Mr Harleth for trying to send residency briefing books to Biden’s transition team in November, people familiar with it said with the process. A spokesperson for Mr Meadows did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dr Biden also did not respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear who Mr Biden will choose to replace Mr Harleth, although there are several deputy chief bailiffs who are said to still be in office.

“It has been an honor to serve as Chief Bailiff, a post whose loyalty is not to any particular President, but rather to the institution of the Presidency,” Harleth said in a statement. “I am proud to have had the opportunity to lead the residence staff to receive the first incoming family with the utmost respect and dignity, not only for this administration, but for the future success of the President’s office.