President Joe Biden transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday for the brief period of time when he was under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy, the White House said.
The temporary delegation of power to Harris made her, for a time, the first female acting president in U.S. history. Biden resumed his role as president before noon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Psaki had noted in a press statement 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 Friday morning.
Biden drove early Friday to the medical center in the Washington suburbs for his first routine physical exam as president. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would be under anesthesia during the procedure and would transfer power to Harris.
“As was the case when President George W. Bush had the same procedure in 2002 and 2007, and following the process set out in the Constitution, President Biden will transfer power to the Vice President for the brief period of time when he is under anesthesia,” she said. “The Vice President will work from her office in the West Wing during this time.”
Biden, 78, had his last full exam in December 2019, when doctors found the former vice president to be “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” according to a doctor’s report at the time. Biden is the oldest person to serve as president, and interest in his health has been high since he declared his candidacy for the White House in 2019.