# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/61 "2017-01-09T00:34:31Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > are you suggesting that the President alone in all the USA isn’t entitled to due process of law? If I show up in your bedroom at 3 in the morning, I’m entitled to due process. That doesn’t mean I have to be evicted from your house. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/62 "2017-01-09T00:45:44Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Jackie Kennedy wasn’t dragged out of the White House on Nov 23rd, 1963 … I’m honestly surprised anyone would think it would have been lawful to do so … It would have been uncouth beyond imagining for the Johnsons to not allow her adequate time to move out. She was welcome to stay there as their guest as long they allowed. She could not, however, stay on without their consent. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/63 "2017-01-09T01:15:35Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wouldn’t call what I’m doing “arguing”. The thread is past it’s prime, so joking around is perfectly acceptable. I concur. Usually when posts beginning with “yeah, but whattabout…” (e.g. armed Obama) are admitted it’s time when empty beer cans can be liberally tossed around. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/64 "2017-01-09T17:40:08Z")
I’m standing by my (mostly) **Factual Answer** in [Post #3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19889906&postcount=3) … the details will vary between jurisdictions … but the principles are the same … I speak from experience having tried these exact kinds of cases around a hundred times … in an actual courtroom … in front of a _real_ judge … so my reasoning here is that this situation with the White House is so “out there”, so unrealistic, that Congress has never written any laws on how to deal with this situation if it should ever come up … thus with the absence, the case would default to the local courts … where in fact we already have a crystal clear set of rules and procedures which would rather quickly bring in a mess of US Marshall with a Court Order in hand … > [@Ravenman](#): > > If I show up in your bedroom at 3 in the morning, I’m entitled to due process. That doesn’t mean I have to be evicted from your house. So, I’ve handed you the keys to my house … and either in writing or verbally … I’ve told you to go ahead and move into my bedroom … bring all your stuff … now, eight years later I’m sick of this, so I call the police who arrest you for criminal trespassing … that would be a landlord’s dream come true … do I keep your stuff? I guaranty the police will want a court order first … ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/65 "2017-01-09T19:07:58Z")
I agree with Watchwolf, with the park ranger living inside the park example. But I was also thinking about a blurb they did on one of the cable channels about ‘the switchover’. From what I remember, while everyone is at the inauguration, which includes both Obama and Trump, the staff is doing the moving. So even if Obama wants to stay, he would have to borrow trumps PJ’s, toothbrush etc. ---
**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 9, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/66 "2017-01-09T19:37:35Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I speak from experience having tried these exact kinds of cases around a hundred times … in an actual courtroom … in front of a _real_ judge … so my reasoning here is that this situation with the White House is so “out there”, so unrealistic, that Congress has never written any laws on how to deal with this situation if it should ever come up … thus with the absence, the case would default to the local courts … where in fact we already have a crystal clear set of rules and procedures which would rather quickly bring in a mess of US Marshall with a Court Order in hand … I doubt … you have … much experience … with cases … involving … the White House. Your reasoning … seems … highly tenuous … and I doubt … you’d find … any judge … who would … agree with it … ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/67 "2017-01-09T20:37:40Z")
DJ’s PJ’s? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/68 "2017-01-09T22:49:32Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > DJ’s PJ’s? Ewwwwwwwww … ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/69 "2017-01-10T01:55:30Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > So, I’ve handed you the keys to my house … and either in writing or verbally … I’ve told you to go ahead and move into my bedroom … bring all your stuff … now, eight years later I’m sick of this, so I call the police who arrest you for criminal trespassing … that would be a landlord’s dream come true … do I keep your stuff? > > I guaranty the police will want a court order first … Jesus fucking Christ, how many times does it need to be pointed out to you that the White House Complex is not a private residence, is not under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and occupancy is a statute-defined privilege of being the inaugurated President of the United States. Your continued insistence on treating it as a private residence is a false premise on the face. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/70 "2017-01-10T02:32:47Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > So, I’ve handed you the keys to my house … and either in writing or verbally … I’ve told you to go ahead and move into my bedroom … bring all your stuff … now, eight years later I’m sick of this, so I call the police who arrest you for criminal trespassing … that would be a landlord’s dream come true … do I keep your stuff? > I guaranty the police will want a court order first … How does this pertain when, upon getting the keys, I know that exactly 4 years later almost to the hour, I’ll have to have found another residence. 3 years 10 months later we re-upped for a second four year occupancy so the actual move out date and hour will be fixed to be another 4 years out. This isn’t a case where I didn’t pay rent last week so you want me out. I knew before moving in when the actual termination was and that only that one extension was possible. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111/71 "2017-01-10T09:08:09Z")
Didn’t we do this 8 years ago with Bush? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-obama-refused-to-leave-the-white-house/776111.md?page=3)