A break in tradition, Jill Biden oversaw much of what could be the last Cabinet meeting of President Joe Biden’s tenure today. Leadership under the First Lady as well as a Rose Garden celebration of The West Wing’s 25th anniversary prompts questions about the kind of presidential governance.
He did this at the meeting held in the West Wing where President Biden, opening it stated briefly the urgency for Congress to pass a short-term funding bill in order not to face a government shutdown. “We have 10 days for Congress to pass this bill; it’s critical,” he said before switching gears to introduce Jill Biden.
She will be for the first time speaking at length taking over the reins in such a high-level cabinet meeting, and since she’s there for this high-level political event, it can’t be helped but leave questions about her role in the administration with only four months left for President Biden in the tail-end of his term.
While the President framed his wife’s participation with a flip line, “I heard that clapping, it wasn’t for me,” her participation underscored the increasingly public role she’s played in his administration.
It also marked the 25th anniversary of The West Wing, a cultural milestone so thickly associated with the White House that it might as well have been a celebration inside the building itself. The appearance by the First Lady in both the Cabinet meeting and in the celebration itself underscored her rising star status in the administration.
This moment, as the Biden presidency draws to a close, has fueled some questions regarding the relationship between the First Lady and the President, particularly as attention shifts toward the final months of the administration’s policy agenda.
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