White House Source: President Will Have to Vacate Oval Office Next Year

White House Source: President Will Have to Vacate Oval Office Next Year

Planned renovation to the White House means the next president—whoever it is—may be displaced from the Oval Office for as long as a year.

By Carol Ross Joynt, The Washingtonian

Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich, and Mitt Romney are already knee-deep in what many observers are saying could be the nastiest presidential bid in decades—but a year from now, the ultimate victor, no matter who he is, may not get to claim the ultimate prize: the Oval Office.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, beginning sometime next year the President may be relocated from the White House West Wing and the iconic Oval Office to temporary office space next door in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building.

How big will the displacement be? According to sources, who demanded anonymity in order to talk about non-public plans, the White House Mess and other parts of the West Wing will also undergo needed repairs—in other words, “the whole West Wing except the Situation Room,” as one source put it.

The displacement could last up to a year, according to two people who have been part of the discussions.