# What would happen if Obama refused to leave the White House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111 "2017-01-01T23:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/21 "2017-01-02T10:09:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The President doesn’t pay rent or hold lease on the White House, much less claim ownership of it; he or she and family reside there as a condition of the position. There is no “judicial authority” required for the Secret Service to eject a trespasser, even a former occupant. > > Stranger Indeed the president may even sign on a contract with regard various things about the residence section. That contract may demote him to lodger status… not a Tennant, not even a squatter. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/22 "2017-01-02T13:45:50Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > In this case, Trump would say: _We cool. I’d rather stay in NYC anyway!!_🙂 And since Trump is a really nice, sensitive guy who genuinely cares about the well-being of the American people, he’d open up the White House as a homeless shelter, or a refuge for abused women, or a clinic for a well-established charitable organization like Planned Parenthood. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/23 "2017-01-02T13:57:01Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > **What would happen if Obama refused to leave the White House?** It would make Orson Scott Card [look like a prophet](http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2013-05-09-1.html). (Instead of the douchecanoe he actually is.) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/24 "2017-01-02T14:29:30Z")
Didn’t we have exactly the same question about Bush eight years ago? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/25 "2017-01-02T14:37:08Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The President doesn’t pay rent or hold lease on the White House, much less claim ownership of it; he or she and family reside there as a condition of the position. There is no “judicial authority” required for the Secret Service to eject a trespasser, even a former occupant. > > Stranger > [@Ravenman](#): > > As a resident of D.C., I laugh at the notion that D.C. laws apply to Federal property. DC can’t even require local taxes to be collected in Federal buildings, nor collect property taxes on Federal buildings. (As with many similar situations around the country, the Feds do make “payments in lieu of taxes” to local authorities to maintain peace.) > > The idea that local D.C. housing laws apply to the White House is patently absurd in itself, to say nothing that such laws are a reasonable basis to justify an usurper of constitutional powers. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/26 "2017-01-02T14:44:19Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I [asked this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=761250) about a year and a half ago. Consensus was it wouldn’t go well for him. Apologies, **elfkin477** , I should always search before posting. Some interesting responses here though. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/27 "2017-01-02T19:49:00Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > . . . And BTW has any President in US history come close to doing such a thing? No, but every president has been accused of planning to do it. That includes George Washington. The closest any president came was Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms back when two terms was a tradition instead of a law. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/28 "2017-01-02T20:14:17Z")
And he never did leave the White House, did he? (Well, not under his own power, anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/29 "2017-01-02T21:27:35Z")
Actually, he died in Warm Springs, Georgia ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/30 "2017-01-02T22:32:15Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > No, but every president has been accused of planning to do it. That includes George Washington. That’s an impressive feat, since the White House wasn’t even finished until 1800, three years after George Washington’s term ended. (Did they build the place around him?) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/31 "2017-01-02T22:45:27Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Cite? Are you asking for a cite that the President does not own or hold a lease to the White House? The President occupies the White House as a matter of federal statute. > [@3 U.S. Code § 102](#): > > [The President] shall be entitled also to the use of the furniture and other effects belonging to the United States and kept in the Executive Residence at the White House. The President does not have a lease as that term is generally understood. A lease might be inferred if he paid rent, but he doesn’t. He is a guest. The White House grounds and residence are property of the National Park Service. ([Cite](https://www.nps.gov/whho/index.htm)). Federal law applies in national parks. ([Cite](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/lawsandpolicies.htm)). The DC home rule charter does not grant the DC government any jurisdictional powers over federal installations, including national parks. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/32 "2017-01-02T22:58:00Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The closest any president came was Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms back when two terms was a tradition instead of a law. Nitpick/ By constitutional amendment rather than “a law” although “by law” would work. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/33 "2017-01-02T23:19:46Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Are you asking for a cite that the President does not own or hold a lease to the White House? … [snip] No, a citation that that a resident on Federal property can be forcibly removed without due process of law. We’ve people here who seem to think that the afternoon of the 23rd the Secret Service is going to waltz into the White House residence, handcuff the First Family and haul all their personal possessions out onto Pennsylvania Ave and unceremoniously dump them there … if there’s a written Federal Law that allows this, then so be it … if not, then it won’t happen … The closest I can come up with is [36 CFR 8.4](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/8.4): > [@](#): > > A concessioner shall comply with all standards established pursuant to Federal or State labor laws, such as those concerning minimum wages, child labor, hours of work, and safety, that apply in the State in which the concession facility is located. All concessioners shall comply with Federal child labor regulations regardless of their annual volume of business or any other exemptions provided by Federal law. My argument is that barring any specific Federal Law, the laws of the State are used in the case where housing is provided as a condition of employment … and 36 CFR defines “State” as including the District of Columbia … for example, the NPS fires one of their rangers and the ranger won’t move out … the NPS has to go to State court and file an eviction and use the procedure set out in State law … ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/34 "2017-01-02T23:20:39Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Nitpick/ By constitutional amendment rather than “a law” although “by law” would work. The Constitution is a law. I’m calling the nitpick police. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/35 "2017-01-02T23:25:08Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > No, a citation that that a resident on Federal property can be forcibly removed without due process of law. It’s called “trespassing.” 36 CFR 2.31 prohibits trespassing in federal parks, if you’re interested. Trespassers may be removed without due process. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/36 "2017-01-02T23:26:27Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > My argument is that barring any specific Federal Law, the laws of the State are used in the case where housing is provided as a condition of employment … Also, this argument is total bollocks. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/37 "2017-01-03T00:21:52Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It’s called “trespassing.” 36 CFR 2.31 prohibits trespassing in federal parks, if you’re interested. Trespassers may be removed without due process. You cannot trespass in your own home … whether you own the building or not … it’s call “civil rights” … > [@friedo](#): > > Also, this argument is total bollocks. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/38 "2017-01-03T00:56:08Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > You cannot trespass in your own home … whether you own the building or not … it’s call “civil rights” … Are you being deliberately obtuse or just trolling now? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/39 "2017-01-03T01:07:19Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Are you being deliberately obtuse or just trolling now? **Moderator Note** It is against the rules to accuse another poster of trolling outside of the Pit. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/40 "2017-01-03T03:01:12Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > You cannot trespass in your own home … whether you own the building or not … it’s call “civil rights” … Being inside a building - even sleeping inside it - does not mean it’s your house. You have to establish you have tenant rights. Obama doesn’t own the White House and he doesn’t have a lease. He would legally be classified as a transient guest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111.md?page=3)