What is going on at the White House? President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris abruptly canceled their upcoming holiday plans and appear to be dealing with a crisis in the nation’s capital.
After Harris’ office issued a statement on Thursday night updating her travel itinerary, the public became concerned about whether an emergency was underway.
The message said Harris would “not travel to Los Angeles, CA, and will remain in Washington, D.C.” after she had been scheduled to leave for the airport at 9:15 p.m. ET and land in Southern California at 11:35 p.m. PT.
While the White House has yet to address the concerning cancelation, Harris’ office confirmed on Friday, December 20: “The Vice President will be in Washington, D.C. where she will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff . These meetings will be closed press.”
Viral videos later surfaced of Harris’ motorcade “rushing back to the White House,” per a social media post.
The update comes after reports revealed President Biden had also returned back to the White House and would no longer be spending Christmas at home in Delaware.
It is unclear what Biden and Harris’ motivations were for returning to the White House, but the internet is already rife with theories about what might be going on.
One possible explanation is the threat of a partial government shutdown, as Congress has yet to agree on a funding bill.
Congress has less than 24 hours to pass a temporary measure that will keep all federal agencies open.
If the House fails to pass a funding bill by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, the federal government will run out of money over the weekend, forcing many state employees to go home and others to work without pay.
House Republicans failed to pass a stopgap funding bill on Thursday after initiating it under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump.
235 House members voted against the bill, including 38 Republicans, falling short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.
Republicans and Democrats initially reached a bipartisan agreement to keep the government open; however, Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance went on vicious rants on Truth Social, mocking the bipartisan arrangement.
In response, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued an official statement saying, “Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hard-working Americans and create instability across the country.”