US President Joe Biden will transfer power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday while he is under anaesthesia for a routine colonoscopy he will undergo as part of his annual physical.
"The Vice President will work from her office in the West Wing during this time," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, reports Reuters.
“Presidential power has been transferred to the vice president before, when President George W. Bush had colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007, and the transfer adheres to the process laid out in the Constitution,” Psaki said.
Biden, who turns 79 on Saturday, is the oldest person to take office as president in US history. Although speculation has persisted about whether he will run for re-election in 2024, he has said he expects to seek a second term alongside Harris.
US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris shaking hands during a ceremony to sign the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act", on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington on November 15 this year –Reuters file photo