As Biden starts moving in, Trump moves out, not helping Biden's team
We have seen that there have already been three cases of coronavirus at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that we know of – therefore, Biden asked for a much more thorough cleaning.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUS President Donald Trump arrives to address a briefing at the White House, August 13, 2020.(photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
Normally when a president is sworn in, it takes about six hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to move the new guy in and the old guy out. But this year, things are not going as they usually would.In general, the White House goes through a thorough cleaning process, new coats of paint are put on where needed, carpets are replaced and the old president's personal stuff is moved out while the new president's stuff gets moved in – after going through a security screening. This year, in light of the coronavirus crisis, President-elect Joe Biden decided extra cleaning was needed.According to CNN, the contracts run to approximately half a million dollars, which includes $127,000 for the "2021 Inaugural Cleaning." This particularly large bill is due to Didlake, a Virginia-based business that employs people with disabilities for jobs including janitorial and housekeeping services.The White House staff, which numbers between 90 and 100, normally has the privilege to clean and get the house ready for the incoming administration. But because there have been three known cases of coronavirus at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Biden asked for a much more thorough cleaning, so the contracts ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars.Among the things that could make the transition quicker is the fact that Trump does not intend to attend the inauguration on January 20 and plans to leave the White House the day before on the 19th. This gives extra time to move things out. For the past two months first lady Melania Trump has been packing up and moving items. A source according to CNN said that half of items from the Trump era have already been moved out.The transition team has been in contact with chief usher of the White House Timother Harleth, two sources told CNN. He was an employee at Trump International Hotel and is helping the Biden transition team, albeit covertly, to maneuver the moving process.Generally at around this time, the previous administration is supposed to help the incoming administration transfer smoothly into the White House, but this has not happened. The current first lady normally reaches out to the next first lady to help her transition as well, but Melania Trump has yet to reach out to her counterpart Jill Biden.Another question that has not been answered is whether Biden's hi-tech Peloton equipment can be moved in because since it is connected to the Internet, it might need to go through high security scrutiny first.
