President Biden Relinquishes Control of His White House

• In an unprecedented move, First Lady Jill Biden briefly ran a cabinet meeting

• The action exemplifies how President Biden is not taking charge of his administration

• Calls have been made for Kamala Harris to remove him from office, but she's focused on her own campaign and distancing herself from him

The story

For the first time in a year, the White House held a cabinet meeting.

Speaking for about two minutes, President Joe Biden introduced his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, who proceeded to take over the meeting. Sitting at the head of the table, the first lady addressed the presidential cabinet on funding executive-agency initiatives related to women's health.

Jill Biden has previously inspired comparisons to Edith Wilson, the wife of former President Woodrow Wilson, who unofficially took control of his responsibilities after he suffered a stroke.

In response, the White House defended Jill Biden’s participation, framing it as part of a broader initiative to address critical women’s issues. However, the American people never elected Jill Biden, and it is unheard of in modern American history for a first lady to lead a cabinet meeting, however briefly.

The first lady's recent involvement in taking over her husband’s duties has ignited public debate, reviving a long-standing question from many: is President Biden actually running the country?

The president’s capacity to lead

The Republican National Committee claims that Biden has been on vacation for around 40 percent of his presidency. The president often flies to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in between his presidential duties.

Meanwhile, prominent conservative voices like Ben Shapiro are urging Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Biden. Ever since the media and his own party ousted him as the Democrats’ presidential nominee, the American public has widely assumed that Biden’s mental acuity is insufficient to fulfill the responsibilities of his office.

Seventy-two percent of Americans do not believe President Biden has the “mental” and “cognitive health” to serve as president, while Republicans like Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) have raised questions about who is truly leading the administration. Many conservatives believe the administrative state is running on autopilot, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates dismissed such criticism as politically motivated conspiracy theories that undermine the administration's accomplishments.

Harris backs away from Biden’s record

President Biden is expecting to cruise through his final months in office and rarely deliver speeches. As he attends fundraising events and touts his administration’s victories, his vice president will be taking a different course — one that will take a sharp turn away from Biden’s policy record.

Despite some calls for her to do so, Kamala Harris is not likely to invoke the 25th Amendment because she’s focused on her campaign and is also making efforts to distance herself from her own administration. She is also changing her tune on the far-left policies she once supported in an effort to reshape her image ahead of the election.

Harris has flipped positions on key issues such as Medicare for All and fracking, embracing moderate stances to appeal to a broader electorate. She is now focusing on inflation and the cost of living to position herself as a champion for the middle class.

Now, she's stuck between a rock and a hard place: fiercely defending the president limits her ability to distance herself from his record, but calling for his resignation could damage her own credibility after continuously standing by his mental fitness.

Why it matters

With the First Lady leading cabinet meetings and Vice President Harris distancing herself from Biden's policy record, it's clear the president is left with few allies and is not actively taking charge of his presidential duties.

Over the next four months, Kamala Harris will call for a fresh start for America, despite the fact that she has served as vice president for the last four years. And if she wins, the unelected federal bureaucracy is set to continue pursuing the same agenda that has dominated 12 of the last 16 years.