News/Commentary

WH staffers fretting over possibility Biden may shirk departure tradition

November 30, 2024 | | Print Article

Yet another example in a White House rife with ineptitude left swaths of staffers “annoyed” at failures around a parting tradition.

Already reeling from President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, current and former employees of President Joe Biden’s White House were said to be in the midst of a “triggering” experience in the final days of the administration.

According to reporting in the Politico Playbook Friday, it wasn’t just the American people that the resident-in-chief had been avoiding as many voiced their concern that a traditional departure photo with the boss might not be in the cards.

“As grim reality has set in following DONALD TRUMP’s election victory, those staffers toiling away in the West Wing and [Eisenhower Executive Office Building] have had something else sapping their morale — and blowing up their group chats: a growing concern that they might not get their departure photos with the president,” detailed the Playbook, “a meaningful memento for those who have served in this and past administrations.”

Having spoken with current and former officials, Politico noted earlier departures from the administration reportedly would have photo-ops scheduled with “roughly a week’s notice.”

For one official who’d left in 2022, it had taken eight months after their departure before the opportunity had been presented.

“It’s just been one thing you can sort of count on as a reward for all of your service. And it’s parents feeling fulfilled, too, for all of their work and getting you to this place,” the former official had said as it was revealed, “They just took them off his schedule months ago, and no one knows why. Of course the culture is bad over there if they’re not doing the little things.”

The latest miff among the staff marked a closing chapter after years of covering for missteps from the Biden-Harris administration, allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior from First Lady Jill Biden’s top adviser Anthony Bernal, and failed inclusion at parties for low-level staff.

The Playbook detailed that as of last week, the Office of Management and Administration had announced that “all current [Executive Office of the President] political appointees” were invited “for a departure photo to celebrate your time and work while at the White House,” but no guests were permitted for the Oval Office shoots.

“Instead of everyone being annoyed by no departure photos, now it’s only half of the people who are annoyed,” remarked one current administration official.

Afforded the opportunity to review a group chat, the outlet noted some of the ire from staffers involved the order in which employees were obtaining their opportunity to pose with the president.

“Like why did I see an intern turned staff assistant get a photo before me?” said one former official as another sounded off, “it makes me annoyed that i’m even annoyed, but it’s the principle of the matter and a coveted white house experience to get a departure photo [sic].”

Yet another former official spoke to the weight of the insult as they told the Playbook, “These are the staffers who stood with Biden since Day 1, many since the lowest ebbs of the campaign.”

“The staffers who gave everything to this President, who missed anniversaries, birthdays, their own doctors appointments, knowing democracy itself was on the line, deserve at the very least a proper goodbye from the man who says he owes them everything,” the official added.

As it happened, these sentiments came on the heels of the Democratic National Committee’s massive post-election layoffs that led the union to launch a crowdfunding effort to cover costs as they continued to seek severance packages.

Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles