FTR this question is obviously inspired by current events (in particular, this), but not about current events.
Suppose a president whose term has expired simply refuses to move out of the white house, or a governor from the governor’s mansion, whether because he insists he really won or because he hasn’t found a new place yet or whatever other reason. Does he have rights as a tenant such that eviction proceedings in court would be required to actually bounce the guy, or is it simpler than that?
Essentially the question is: is it possible that the eviction laws has written cover the above circumstances (simply because it never occurred to anyone to write an exception for such cases) and would come into play in this situation?
Similarly, suppose a president or governor or mayor got divorced or separated from their spouse during their residence at the official residence. Now the question is whether they need to move out or the spouse does. Is this dealt with by a family court judge much as any private person in that circumstance would be, or does the official government residence have a different status? (I vaguely remember that this might have come up when Giuliani split from his wife while mayor of NY, but I think it was dealt with outside of court.)
I have no citations to come up with, but I’m pretty sure such an ex-president would be regarded simply as an unlawful intruder and physically dragged out by Secret Service pronto, just like some prankster who tries to sneak his way onto White House grounds. Maybe even face charges for trespassing.
It’s not completely clear that long term guests can be evicted without going through eviction proceedings. Especially if - as is the case here - they’re doing some work in exchange for the residency rights.
And again, my question (in the first part) was not about whether this ex-officeholder would prevail in court, but about whether they would be entitled to get their day in municipal court altogether.
This is emphatically NOT true in many states. A “guest” (person present with the landlord’s permission, including implicit permission) who establishes residence quite often acquires the rights of tenancy even without a rental agreement, and can only be evicted through court action. Length of time is one factor; receiving mail, having a key, and exercising control over the property are other factors that will play into the court’s decision, although the details vary from place to place.
That’s not true. Most jurisdictions (including DC) do not require rent to establish tenancy. If you live there with the permission of the owner, you’re a tenant. (Precisely what “living there” means is what judges are for.)
OTOH, there is an excellent argument to be made that the White House is employer-provided housing. You generally don’t get tenancy protections in that type of situation if you lose your job.
The White is federal property and not subject to local regulations. It is specifically for use by the current POTUS, as a residential and working quarters, similar to how the Supreme Court is for Justices and the Capitol building is for use by current members of congress. I suppose the Capitol Police would just remove him similar to a sheriff evicting someone.
But really, he didn’t want to move in there anyway because he had much better accommodations elsewhere. That is probably the most true statement he made the whole time he was there.
Nobody lives at the Supreme Court or the Capitol. Tenancy rights have nothing to do with removing someone from an office building when they lose their job. That’s just a matter of trespassing.
The fact that the White House is federal property also isn’t especially relevant; everything in DC is under federal jurisdiction. But there are still laws there, including tenancy laws.
But, as mentioned above, tenancy laws don’t matter in this situation. Federal law says the White House residence is for the President to live in. If you’re not the President any more, you don’t get to live there.
As I remember, Mary Todd Lincoln initially refused to go, initially believing that she had no where else to go. Andrew Johnson didn’t insist. She did leave after only a month or so. (When JFK was assassinated, LBJ was in after about 2 weeks)
FWIW, normally the White House team kicks ass during the Inauguration and packs up the outgoing POTUS and moves in the new POTUS. Considering the past four years haven’t been presidental and the most recent occupant fired the … his title was something like usher …and installed his own secret keeper … Joe Biden will know how it should be done. He’ll have to try to get the competent individual back to do the work as part of the transition team.
Trump is preventing transition funds from being released to the Biden-Harris team. There’s a bit of history too. George W (# 43, aka “Shrub”) Bush did a fantastic job preparing every department for the transition to Obama. This was obviously for the good of the nation. Barack Obama was so grateful he did the same for Trump because we all hoped for the best from him, remember? The briefings and preparations were ignored. Was the Trump team suspicious of what Obama was leaving them?
Now there’s one person who signs off on releasing transition funds. I’m pretty sure I remember Trump didn’t understand what the meaning of the transition was and now he wants it destroyed in a vindictive, petty way.
I’m pretty sure Trump will be relocated out of there and he can go back to his creepy fake gold toilet.
GQ is for factual discussions. If you want to discuss your opinion of Trump or make politically charged statements, feel free to do so, but not in this forum. Try P&E or maybe the Pit instead.
No warning issued this time, but keep the politics out of GQ.
Is there an actual federal law that states the White House is the official residence of the President, or is it just another convention that nobody bothered to codify?
Huh. Does the President even have a key to the White House? I doubt it. The SS does, of course, and maybe custodians or cleaners, but can anyone imagine the President having to fish out a key before he can get into the Oval Office or even his own quarters?
That’s the proper answer. Basically the President can live at the White House because he’s the current holder of the office. Once he’s no longer the holder of the office, he’s got to vacate the premises and go elsewhere.
It’s essentially a perk of the office- AFAIK, there’s no legal requirement that the President HAS to live at the Executive Residence part of the White House- we’ve had a couple live elsewhere for extended periods - Madison & Truman come to mind after the British torched the place in 1814, and the renovation in Truman’s administration.
However, I think they are effectively required to WORK there- the West Wing, the Oval Office and the East Wing are all working spaces for the President, VP and First Lady, and their staffs.
Required or highly recommended due to security reasons? I wasn’t trying to be snarking when I said that Trump truly had better accommodations available to him since it’s pretty obvious that he does. As you stated Truman relocated due to remodeling and FDR stayed at Warm Springs often. But times are different now and I have wondered if POTUS Trump was persuaded to work out of DC due to better levels of security available there. I mean, is their a law that says the POTUS has to work and base himself at the WH? Or is it just tradition and security that makes it best that a POTUS work from there?
I don’t know… I suspect that his staff can temporarily function in some vacation place like Camp David or Crawford, but even then it’s probably planned ahead of time. I suspect for the day-in, day-out work of the Executive branch, he more or less has to work out of the White House for various security reasons- physical security, data security, proximity to Marine One and by extension to the alert plane at Andrews AFB, proximity to the Capital and Congress, and so on.
I mean, AFAIK there’s no statutory reason a President couldn’t choose to live in say… NYC, but it would make doing his job a lot harder, and make his staff’s job even more difficult.
All of you; please stick to the initial question. I suspect it has been adequately answered but I would like to see a cite for a federal law that defines the WH as the residency of the current president (and anyone there on his guest list).
Note there was also a second related question about whether and to what extent residency at official government residences would be subject to family court rulings.