Vice Presidential Pool Reports of March 12, 2021

VP Extended Pool Report #1 / Gathering for Cecilia Rouse Swearing-in

Good afternoon,

I will be your pooler for Cecilia Rouse swearing-in ceremony as chair of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). It is a cloudy but relatively warm morning at the White House (66ºF). Your pooler has been covid tested and still here, so I am assuming the result was negative.

Pool is gathered outside the West Wing at 11:40AM EST to be escorted to the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), where the event will take place. Vice President Kamala Harris will administer the oath. The ceremony is scheduled for 12:00PM EST.

The Senate confirmed Cecilia Rouse as chair of President Biden’s CEA on March 2nd with a 95 to 4 vote. Dr. Rouse, a Princeton University economist, becomes the first black person to lead the CEA in its 75 years of history. She served as a member of the council during the Obama Administration.

VP Pool Report #2 / Waiting for Cecilia Rouse Swearing-in

Pool is waiting at the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where Cecilia Rouse swearing-in ceremony will take place.

These are the attendees as per VP Office:

Kamala Harris, VPOTUS
Cecilia Rouse, CEA Chair
Safa Karle Morrison (daughter)
Carolyn Moxley Rouse (sister)
Skylar Elena Schiltz-Rouse (niece)

VPOTUS Office is a grand room with a nautical motif. A large golden mirror sits on a fireplace in the center of the stage. Two American flags and two VP flags are on the right of the fireplace, and next to them there is a wooden armoir with mockups of the State, War, and Navy Department Building, as well as of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35); a photograph of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels (1913); and other nautical objects. The wall paint of the room is an old baby blue and has several murals. The room is completed with an hexagon design wood flooring.

Two photos of the stage can be downloaded here: https://wetransfer.com/downloads/b3f90690f8bcfd7c286ef11614ab6d092021031...

VP Pool Report #3 / Still Waiting for Cecilia Rouse Swearing-in

Pool is still waiting. Your pooler can hear VPOTUS greeting the participants with cheer and laughter in the room next door the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

It is 12:10PM EST. The swearing in ceremony was scheduled for 12:00PM EST.

VP Pool Report #4 / Cecilia Rouse Swearing-in underway and over + Photos/Video

The event began at 12:12PM EST and lasted about two minutes. It took place in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The Vice President entered the room first followed by Cecilia Rouse, the new CEA chair's daughter, sister and niece, in that order. Dr. Rouse's daughter, Safa Karle Morrison, carried the Bible used for the oath. They all wore black face masks.

VPOTUS was wearing a grey suit; Dr. Rose wore grey pants too and a jacket with what looked to your pooler green and brown embroidery. The rest of the participants were dressed in a more casual attire. Safa Karle Morrison wore a black leather jacket and Skylar Elena Schiltz-Rouse (niece) wore white tennis shoes.

They all stood in front of the flags and VPOTUS asked "ready?" before asking Dr. Rouse to put her hand on the Bible, held by Rouse's daughter. Then, she proceeded with the oath. Dr. Rouse giggled as she stumbled towards the end of the oath.

Dr. Rouse's daughter kept looking at her mom and the VP proudly. After Rouse swore the oath as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Vice President fervently said: "Congratulations, Madam chair!" They all clapped and posed for the photographers for a few seconds. The Vice President concluded the event by saying "Ok!" They all exited the room, then.

Pool was escorted out shortly after.

A couple of photos and video of the event taken with my phone can be downloaded here: https://wetransfer.com/downloads/2b7dca2aaa156e89407b53e6574d29e22021031...

FYI this is the oath that chair Rouse repeated after the VP: "I, Cecilia Rose, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I'm about to enter, so help me God."