Who’s in charge here, again?
First lady Jill Biden did most of the talking Friday at the public portion of what may be President Biden’s last Cabinet meeting — before showing the cast of “The West Wing” around the Oval Office and hosting a Rose Garden event without her husband.
“The work is hard and the days are long. And yes, there are times when the weight of all we have before us can just feel too heavy to carry,” Jill, 73, said in the Rose Garden from a podium presidents usually occupy.
“But that’s where the heart lies, where the future is created, side-by-side with our family of true believers,” she said at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the NBC series.
The first lady spoke alongside actor Martin Sheen, who played President Jed Bartlet, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who extolled Joe Biden — who had already decamped for home in Delaware — for ending his re-election campaign amid a Democratic mutiny over his apparent cognitive decline.
Hours earlier, Jill dominated her husband’s first Cabinet meeting since October 2023 — taking over after brief introductory remarks by the sitting president, who spent much of his two-minute intro speaking about her.
“Before I begin this Cabinet meeting, I want to discuss very briefly the need for Congress to pass a continued resolution. It’s critical, we have 10 days for Congress to pass a short term funding bill,” said Joe Biden, 81.
The first lady, wearing oversized clear-rimmed glasses and reading from a binder of notes, touted a list of recent women’s health-related funding allocations and executive-agency initiatives.
Her remarks were more than double the length of her husband’s comments.
Attendees were given folders of notes whose covers were emblazoned with both Joe and Jill Biden’s signatures — drawing online ridicule.