The White House said Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris was briefly in charge of the administration when President Joe Biden had been under anesthesia for a scheduled colonoscopy for an hour and 25 minutes.
The government’s first female, first black, and the first South Asian vice president shattered yet another barrier when she took on the role post for a few hours. According to Psaki, Harris operated from her West Wing office while President Joe Biden was under anesthesia.
“@POTUS spoke with @VP and @WHCOS at approximately 11:35 am this morning. @POTUS was in good spirits and at that time resumed his duties. He will remain at Walter Reed as he completes the rest of his routine physical,” Psaki tweeted.
Joe arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center early Friday morning for his first annual physical since becoming president. When the existing head of the state undergoes any medical procedures that put him/her under anesthesia, the role and the power that comes with it is transferred to the Vice President. It was Dick Cheney’s routine to accompany the presidential roles of then-President George W. Bush to his colonoscopies regularly.
The official letter reads Biden issued a letter to Democratic Sen and Nancy Pelosi, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the president pro tempore of the Senate, at reportedly 10:10 a.m. ET before he was put under anesthesia.
The pertinent letter reads “Today I will undergo a routine medical procedure requiring sedation. Given present circumstances, I have determined to transfer temporarily the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States to the Vice President during the brief period of the procedure and recovery.”
Under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution’s, a letter from the President stating that they are “incapable of performing the duties of their office, and until he transmits a written declaration to them to the contrary,” the Vice President can assume the President’s responsibilities as Acting President.
After the operation, a separate letter was written to transmit the control back to Biden. Letter sent to Leahy, and Pelosi reads- “By the provisions of section 3 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, I hereby transmit to you my written declaration that I can discharge the powers and duties of the Office of the President of the United States and that I am resuming those powers and duties.”
According to Stephanie Grisham, who was Trump’s former press secretary, Biden’s predecessor had a colonoscopy in 2019 but kept it a secret because he didn’t want to give Vice President Mike Pence the temporary presidency at the time.
Grisham in her book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now,” doesn’t use the word colonoscopy but the contents don’t shy away from it either. She said Trump’s hospitalization, which sparked months of conjecture about his health was “quite routine surgery,” during which a patient is placed under.” She also mentions that George W. Bush used the same method while he was in the White House. Grisham claims Trump did not want Vice President Mike Pence to be in charge while he was sedated, which is why he kept his visit to the hospital a secret.
Biden developed pulmonary embolism while in the hospital following his surgical procedure. To avoid future clots from affecting the heart and lungs, physicians at the time implanted an “inferior vena cava filter” into his lower vena cava and prescribed him an anticoagulant medication for several months.
