After what will go down as one of the most contentious presidential transitions in American history, January 20, 2021, marks the start of President Joe Biden’s term. While there’s been plenty of focus on both the outgoing president’s departure and the Biden administration’s agenda for its first 100 days, there are plenty of design components to America’s grandest political tradition worth taking note of—from cleaning the country’s most famous residence to projects marking the historic occasion.
A Brief Interregnum and the Bidens’ Moving Plans
Protocol dictates that a new president’s personal effects can’t be loaded into the White House until after he is officially sworn in. As during other inaugurations, that means that a 90-person moving team will remove the last of the Trump administration’s possessions and load in the Biden family’s belongings, some of which have been waiting in a Maryland storage facility, in a matter of just five hours.
A compressed transition period, an abandonment of certain transitionary traditions, and the realities of a pandemic have made matters even more challenging for the incoming first family. As The New York Times reports, the Bidens didn’t have the chance to meet the White House’s residence staff and prepare for their arrival, missing out on an opportunity to plan out life at their new home. Though the briefer transition timeline and lack of logistical coordination pose definite challenges, there’s hope that the Bidens’ familiarity with the White House could make the move at least a little easier.
No Decorator? No Problem!
The Times also notes that the Bidens have no current plans to consult an interior decorator to help them bring the new administration’s White House’s aesthetics to life. However, the White House Historical Association’s team of curators will help the first family avail themselves of the executive mansion’s permanent collection of furniture if they so choose, sharing information about inventory and White House room layouts with the Bidens.
The West Wing Gets a Deep Clean
With last year proving that the president and various others in the West Wing aren’t magically immune from COVID-19, wiping the slate clean between presidents will feature an unprecedented level of deep cleaning throughout all 55,000 square feet of the White House.
In a statement shared with ABC News, the Government Services Administration says it “will thoroughly clean and disinfect the building spaces between the administrations and ensure that everything is up to standard,” including all furniture and flooring, not to mention any conceivable surface that could bear a trace of the coronavirus. Government contracts indicate that $127,249 is earmarked for “2021 Inaugural Cleaning,” with an additional $200,000-plus allocated for an uptick in janitorial and housekeeping work at the White House.
A Big Budget for Carpet and Curtains
In addition to that unprecedented spending on hygiene, it sounds as if the White House’s carpeting is going to get cleaned up and made over. ABC News cites a $115,000 government contract “to correct the current floor condition” for West and East Wing offices, plus the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, by installing new carpeting. That’s on top of a reported $44,000 earmarked for “Inauguration Carpet Cleaning,” and another $29,523 for curtain cleaning. Though that number might seem astronomical out of context, it tracks with a $42,000 carpet cleaning contract from January 2017, two weeks before Trump’s inauguration.
Joe May Not Be Riding His Peloton to D.C.
Like the rest of us, Joe Biden has had to get creative with his exercise routine amid the pandemic. But some worry that Biden’s Peloton spin classes could pose a national security threat. If he wants to bring his Peloton with him (and who wouldn’t?), it might require some modification to meet cybersecurity standards. That would likely mean removing the camera and microphone, as well as keeping the bike away from sensitive areas where important government business takes place. “If he’s the kind of guy who pedals and talks to people, that could be problematic,” former deputy NSA director Richard Ledgett Jr. told the Times.
The Inaugural Gift of Crystal
Though Biden will no doubt receive congratulations and presents from various heads of state in the days and weeks ahead, the first official gift marking their time in office will come from much closer to home for the former Delaware senator. As it has since the inauguration of George H.W. Bush, Lenox Corporation will present an inaugural gift of crystal for the incoming president and vice president. Both gifts are the work of Pennsylvania craftsman Peter O’Rourke, who used archival illustrations to create 17-inch crystal vases depicting the White House (for Biden) and the Capitol (for Harris) over a working period of five months of work.
Corning Glass Museum Celebrates a Shattered Glass Ceiling
Once she takes the oath of office, Kamala Harris will go down in history as America’s first female vice president. To commemorate the occasion, the Corning Museum of Glass released a congratulatory video that features the shattering of a (literal) glass ceiling, only for the pieces to be swept up and transformed into something else. May that positive transformation be a sign of things to come.
