The White House team welcomes the new first family: “The residence is alive again”

The White House team welcomes the new first family: “The residence is alive again”

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“The residence is alive again,” a White House source told CNN about the energy inside. “It’s the honeymoon period when everything looks new.”

There were nighttime film binges at the White House cinema, with snacks from the White House cooks, many of the Biden’s five older grandchildren huddled in the seats to watch, said another source familiar with the activities. The increase in activity was met with pandemic precautions, including the use of a mask.

On Sunday, the first dogs arrived from Delaware, where they waited until things were unpacked and accommodated enough to allow a comfortable entrance for the two German shepherds into their new apartment.

“Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace and Major loved to run across the south lawn,” the White House said in a press release Monday morning. Champ lived at the vice president’s residence during Biden’s time there, and Major was adopted by the family in 2018 in a pet rescue in Delaware.

On Sunday, I saw a church and bagel run by the president, son Hunter and granddaughters Finnegan and Maisy. The narrow streets of Georgetown were clogged with motor vehicles as Hunter ran to pick up bagels from Call Your Mother, a popular deli. (The choice of the parade was tinted with a touch of swamp: one of the owners and investors of Call Your Mother is Jeff Zients, the “czar” of Biden’s Covid. According to the Washingtonian, much of the revenue test for the first location of the delicatessen was done in Cozinha de Zients.)

Biden’s visit to a restaurant in DC on the 5th of his presidency already links him to the number of local restaurants that former President Donald Trump visited. In his four years in Washington, Trump rarely ate out, and when he did, he only ate in one place – the Trump Hotel steakhouse.

However, all the new people at the White House residence meant stricter precautions with Covid-19, a stark reminder of the pandemic amid a week of celebratory events.

“The family was good with that,” said the White House source on adhering to the use of masks and the social distance of employees.

“All employees are masked, especially when they are close to the family,” added a longtime resident official who said that the Biden family removes their masks once on the second floor of their private rooms. The official told CNN that most resident workers – including janitors, butlers, housekeepers and cooks – received at least the first round of vaccinations with Covid-19 and several received both vaccines.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from CNN to comment on the team’s vaccinations.

The residence team is operating “as usual,” said the first White House source, noting the departure of Trump’s chief contractor and contractor, Timothy Harleth, which took place on the day of the inauguration. The move was initiated by a senior Biden government official before the first family arrived at the White House. White House residency officials generally remain in office through different administrations, politically not affiliated 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 made a move to stay at the Biden White House, several sources say, to no avail.

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

The chief porter’s office is currently being operated by Katie Hinson, who was a deputy chief of Trump, until the first lady installs her choice to fill the role of chief.

Kate Anderson Brower contributed to this report.

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