Bidens send out invites for holiday tours in sign parties canceled

EXCLUSIVE – Biden administration sends out invites for White House Christmas decorations tours instead of dinner and drinks receptions in sign they have dumped glitzy black tie parties because of the spread of Omicron

  • Joe and Jill Biden inviting guests to tour White House Christmas decorations
  • Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are getting tour invites but not invites to holiday party in a sign those events have been canceled 
  • Move comes as Omicron cases tripled over the weekend across the nation 
  • The White House is closed to public tours as part of its coronavirus protocols
  • Holiday season is traditionally one of the busiest times for the White House
  • Last year, Donald and Melania Trump hosted 20 holiday parties during COVID
  • Jill Biden revealed White House holiday decorations two weeks ago with the theme of ‘Gifts from the Heart’ 

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have sent invites to lawmakers on Capital Hill to tour the White House Christmas decorations, part of a series of open house events the administration is holding.

The invites are for a walking tour of the holiday decorations on the ground floor and state floor of the executive mansion.

The invitation to tour the decorations is a sign the administration won’t be holding formal holiday parties this year as the coronavirus cases continue to rise around the country and the Omicron variant picks up speed. 

The White House has not sent out invites to Capitol Hill for the any formal holiday gatherings, congressional sources tell DailyMail.com. Presidents traditionally host a Congressional Ball – a black tie holiday event – for lawmakers.

The East Wing, which houses the office of the social secretary and is responsible for social events, didn’t comment for the story.

But when Jill Biden’s office previewed the holiday decorations two weeks ago, her communications director Elizabeth Alexander told reporters there would be some type of event to allow people to see the mansion in its festive mode.

‘More announcements in the coming days will be about additional openings,’ she said at the time.

The administration’s move comes as Omicron cases tripled over the weekend, from 43 across 22 US states on Saturday to 153 cases in 30 states on Monday, according to Centers for Disease Control data.  

The holiday season is traditionally one of the busiest times of year for any administration. It’s not uncommon for there to be an event – sometimes even two – during every day of December with thousands of people trapping through the White House by the time the season is done. 

During such events guests are free to walk around and take in the decor along with partaking in much food and drink. 

Tours offer a safer option to see the decorations  as opposed to a party – they are timed so the number of people can be limited and spread out. Additionally the White House requires face masks to be worn on its premises as another safety precaution. 

The holiday season is an excellent time for presidents to woo lawmakers, thank staff and treat donors. 

Past holiday receptions usually had a few hundred guests – many traveling from out of town – and the first couple typically put in an appearance. 

While the parties may seem superficial, they have different meanings to different guests: staffers get to bring their families to see their workplace, donors get a return on their investment and longtime supporters get a thank you – and all the guests typically get a souvenir picture with the first couple.  

Joe and Jill Biden inviting guests to tour White House to view the Christmas decorations – a sign there will be no holiday parties this year

A giant bow and gift boxes greet visitors arriving to the White House’s East Wing this holiday season; Jill Biden revealed this year’s holiday theme as ‘Gifts from the Heart’

But the coronavirus pandemic continues to up-end plans for in-person gatherings. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this advice for holiday gatherings: get vaccinated if eligible, wear a mask in crowded indoor places, get tested, stay six feet apart from people who don’t live with you, and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

Additionally, the country is facing a difficult holiday season with inflation at its highest point in nearly forty years and supply shortages making certain items difficult to obtain. 

Despite this, Jill Biden said on Friday that Americans will have a ‘very happy holiday.’

‘They’re going to have a very happy holiday,’ Biden said to DailyMail.com at a Toys for Tots event when asked if Americans can have a happy holiday with Omicron and inflation. 

The first lady unveiled her holiday decorations two weeks with the theme of ‘Gifts from the Heart.’

This year’s decorations include a collection of Christmas trees filling the halls of the White House, stacks of books, floating candles, and trees featuring photographs of previous first families. Those photos include the previous White House occupant – Donald and Melania Trump. There is a photo of the former first couple receiving the official White House Christmas tree on display. 

‘For all of our differences, we are united by what really matters like points on a star we come together at the heart. That is what I wanted to reflect in our White House this year,’ Jill Biden said of the theme. 

Last year, as COVID cases raged across the country and vaccines were not yet widely available, then-President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump held up to two holiday events a day in most of December with nary a mention of masks on the invites.

The Trumps went all out for their last holiday season in the White House, planning a full spray of holiday parties celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and other religious holidays.

Pictures posted to social media showed crowded events with few guests wearing face masks.  

Trump was criticized for his move but defended the parties, saying ‘frankly, we’ve reduced the number very substantially, as you know. And I see a lot of people at the parties wearing masks.’ 

President Trump waved to guests as he walked downstairs alongside First Lady Melania at one of the many White House Christmas parties held last year during the COVID pandemic

 Ivanka chatted with visitors at one of last year’s holiday parties

Donald Trump defended his decision to hold crowded holiday parties last year

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump at one of the black-tie events the Trump White House hosted during the holiday season

This year’s White House holiday decorations are more low key than in the Trump years. There are fewer trees and they are smaller than in past years. The bling factor was notably less with fewer lights. Jill Biden kept the decor simple focused on her love of books and nature.

Decorating the 55,000 square foot White House involved 41 Christmas Trees, 6,000 feet of ribbon, more than 300 candles and over 10,000 ornaments.  

Biden also kept the COVID pandemic in mind as she planned out the holiday.

Even the famous Gingerbread White House – which is on display in the State Dining Room – paid tribute to frontline workers with eight detailed replicas of community buildings: a grocery store, school, post office, warehouse, hospital, fire station, police station, and gas station. 

On the school house building is a working school bell and two doves named Peace and Unity, in accordance with the holiday theme.

Pastry chef Susan Morrison said Dr. Biden, a community college professor, placed a gingerbread school teacher next to the school house on the display. 

‘One of the last things we had placed on the White House display was placed by Dr. Biden and that was the school teacher right here. We know how it is near and dear to her heart. So we left her place the last special piece on the display yesterday,’ she said.  

Photos of former first families were included on the decorations on the two trees in the State Dining Room; Jill Biden also included personal family photos

The official White House Christmas tree is on display in the Blue Room 

YUM: The Gingerbread White House and village is made of 55 sheets of baked gingerbread, 120 pounds of pastillage, 35 pounds of chocolate, and 25 pounds of royal icing 

The Gold Star Tree sits in the East Landing of the White House; it honors members of the military who died in service to the country and their families

The White House East Colonnade of the White House is decorated with peace doves

Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo said the White House didn’t experience too many supply chain problems getting holiday decorations although some of the topiaries took longer to arrive.

‘We didn’t have too much problems with supply chain but there were some items that were backed up, obviously just like everybody else is experiencing in the country. But we did manage to source everything before the reveal,’ he said.

The White House recycles many of its decorations, using ones from Christmases past. 

The Bidens, who are spending their first holiday season in the White House as president and first lady, said they wanted the holiday decor to focus on ‘faith, family and friendship’ – which transcended even the ‘contraints’ of the COVID pandemic. 

‘The things we hold sacred unite us and transcend distance, time, and even the constraints of a pandemic: faith, family, and friendship; a love of the arts, learning, and nature; gratitude, service, and community; unity and peace. These are the gifts that tie together the heart strings of our lives. These are the Gifts from the Heart,’ Jill Biden and President Joe Biden wrote in a welcome letter at the beginning of the commemorative 2021 White House Holiday Guide.

Public tours of the White House remain suspended due to COVID, but videos, photos and details about the Christmas decorations are available at  WhiteHouse.gov/Holidays.

Throughout the holiday season, the White House will also provide interactive viewing experiences via Instagram, Google Maps Street View, Snapchat and other platforms, the East Wing said. 

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