White House staff welcome new first family: ‘The residence has new life’

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“The residence has come to life again,” a White House source told CNN of the energy inside. “This is the honeymoon time when everything looks new.”

There were nightly movie frenzy in the White House cinema, with snacks from the White House cooks, many of the Bidens’ five older grandchildren crammed into the seats to watch, one said. other source close to activities. The increased activity has been met with pandemic precautions, including mask wear.

On Sunday, the first dogs arrived from Delaware, where they were waiting for things to be unpacked and set up enough to allow comfortable entry for the two German Shepherds to their new range.

“Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace and Major loved running around the south lawn,” the White House said in a press release early Monday morning. Champ lived at the Vice President’s residence during Biden’s stay there, and Major was adopted by the family in 2018 after rescuing an animal from Delaware.

On Sunday, a church and bagel was run by the president, his son Hunter, and his granddaughters Finnegan and Maisy. The narrow streets of Georgetown were crowded with motorcade vehicles as Hunter ran to get bagels at Call Your Mother, a popular deli. (The choice of stop was tinged with a swamp shmear: one of the owners and investors of Call Your Mother is Jeff Zients, the Covid “czar” of Biden. Zients Kitchen.)

Biden’s visit to a DC dining establishment on Day 5 of his presidency already ties him to the number of local restaurants former President Donald Trump visited. During his four years in Washington, Trump rarely ate in restaurants and when he did, he only did so in one place – the Trump Hotel steakhouse.

Still, all new people in the White House residence meant tighter precautions against Covid-19, a stark reminder of the pandemic amid a week of celebratory events.

“The family was good about it,” said the White House source, who affirmed their support for wearing masks and their social estrangement from staff members.

“Every employee is masked, especially near the family,” added a longtime staff member at the residence who said the Biden family take off their masks once on the second floor of their private quarters. The staff member told CNN that the majority of the residence’s employees – including ushers, butlers, housekeepers and cooks – have had at least the first round of the Covid-19 vaccination and several have received both vaccines.

The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment on staff vaccinations.

Residence staff are operating “as usual,” the White House’s first source said, noting the departure of Trump’s chief bailiff and hiring manager Timothy Harleth on the day of the inauguration . The move was initiated by a senior official in the Biden administration before the first family arrived in the White House. The staff of the White House residences generally remain in their roles across different administrations, politically unaffiliated with presidents and first ladies. But Harleth was hired by Melania Trump in 2017 at the Trump Hotel in Washington, where he was a manager. In recent weeks, he had done a play to stay at the Biden White House, multiple sources say, to no avail.

“He was not particularly liked,” a former White House official said of Harleth’s reputation in the White House, adding that there was friction between Harleth and Trump’s social secretary.

The office of the chief bailiff is currently managed by Katie Hinson, who was the deputy chief bailiff under Trump, until the first lady settles her choice to fill the role of chief.

Kate Anderson Brower contributed to this report.

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