President Joe Biden has new roommates at the White House: his German shepherds Major and Champ. The new POTUS’ pooches finally left Delaware and moved into their new living quarters in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 24, four days after Biden was inaugurated into office. The dogs are already making their presence on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. known, too: they were seen happily roaming the White House’s lawn in the video below, captured by ABC News.
The First Dogs—Champ and Major—arrived at the White House on Sunday from Delaware.
The two German shepherds are the first pets to live at the executive mansion since the Obama administration. https://t.co/imJ5jzdi7a pic.twitter.com/JXChPJQBXF
— ABC News (@ABC) January 25, 2021
Major and Champ are making sure their neighbors in America’s capital can hear them, too! They could be heard barking as Biden signed an executive order that repealed “the transgender military ban to ensure everyone who’s qualified to serve in the military can do so openly and free from discrimination” on Jan. 25, which the White House’s Twitter account announced that Monday. You can watch Biden lift the ban — and the dog barks that accompanied this celebrated action — which Donald Trump had put into effect in Aug. 2019.
#BuildBarkBetter https://t.co/qL7aILjHEH
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 25, 2021
People are celebrating the First Dogs’ arrival at the White House for many reasons. Major, whom the POTUS and First Lady Jill Biden officially adopted from the Delaware Humane Association in Nov. 2018, is widely believed to be the first ever shelter dog who has lived at the White House, since John Adams was the first president to first take up residence at the historical landmark in 1800.
Many citizens were delighted to see pets at the White House again, too, after Trump opted to not own any during his four-year presidency. This is extremely rare for a president to do; in fact, James K. Polk has been the only other president to not keep any pets at the White House…who held office between 1845-1849. Trump also broke a 115-year tradition of owning dogs at the White House (the last to not own dogs was William McKinley, who instead kept birds and cats).
Inviting pets into the White House wasn’t the only change Biden made during his first days as the POTUS. He also gave the Oval Office a makeover, which entailed parting ways with many of Trump’s old decorations. As you can see, Biden’s hard at work at getting rid of many signs of Trump’s time in office.