WASHINGTON — 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 final cabinet meeting — just hours before she hosted a large Rose Garden celebration without him.
The 73-year-old first lady, widely regarded as the most powerful in over a century, was seated at the head of the Cabinet Room’s board table and read from a binder about maternal health initiatives for four and a half minutes after her husband spoke for just two minutes at the top of the meeting.
“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 that gives them more time to deliver,” said the president, 81.
“This Cabinet meeting comes at a time when we have four months left in the administration, and we’re going to keep running through the tape because the vice president and I [are] determined [to] keep making sure that the democracy delivers what the American people are asking for,” added Biden, who has taken extensive vacation time in the final stretch of his term.
“We’re grateful that Jill is here today — you] heard that clapping, it wasn’t for me,” he went on.
“Here and across previous administrations, first ladies have attended these meetings for specific reasons. This is the first time Jill has joined us, and it goes to show how important the issue is, which she is about to speak to.”
“It’s all yours, kid,” the 46th president signed off.
The first lady, wearing 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.
Attendees were given folders of notes whose covers were emblazoned with Jill’s signature alongside her husband’s — drawing online criticism.
“When did we elect her President?” tweeted the popular X account Comfortably Smug.
Jill Biden’s office has held strong sway in the West Wing, especially before other national Democrats forced the president to relinquish the party’s nomination on July 21 over concerns about his mental acuity, resulting in Vice President Kamala Harris’ sudden substitution at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“In February, ARPA-H, the agency Joe created to pursue breakthrough health research at lightning speed, launched its first ever sprint for women’s health,” Jill Biden said in her presentation.
“The $100 million investment will fund innovations that will be life changing for women. Then a month later, NIH committed another $200 million to fund interdisciplinary women’s health research — for example, looking at how menopause affects heart health, brain health and food health.
“In May, the Department of Defense and the VA launched a new joint effort to improve research for women in the military and for women veterans. On Monday, I’ll be at the Clinton Global Initiative to make a new announcement, and we will share more. Then, in June, the Department of Health and Human Health Services announced new funding to address the unique mental health and substance use treatment needs of women. Your agencies are strengthening standards so that when the government funds research it includes women.”
Jill Biden is considered by insiders to be the most influential first lady since Edith Wilson, who tightly controlled access to her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, after he suffered a debilitating stroke in October 1919.
Her tenure hasn’t been without controversy — drawing outrage from White House aides for tolerating alleged bullying and sexual harassment from her top aide Anthony Bernal, whom she calls her “work husband.”
“We have to keep working across government and the private sector to incentivize innovative health research for women,” the first lady directed the Cabinet secretaries.
“It’s time to write a new story of health care in this country, one where women get the answers we need, where the United States continues to be home to the most cutting edge research in the world, and where everyone can leave, healthier lives,” she concluded.
Later in the day, Jill Biden will host actors from the TV series “The West Wing” to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show’s launch in 1999. The series ran on NBC until 2006 and has a strong following among current Biden White House aides.
The president is leaving the White House in the early afternoon to return to his Wilmington, Del., home for a weekend summit with the leaders of the “Quad” — Australia, India and Japan — with scant public events for that international gathering sparking protests from the White House press corps.
