Teary farewells as Obama aides pack up, make way for Trump AP, Jan 17, 2017, JOSH LEDERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — They line up near the Oval Office, down the hallway toward the Cabinet Room, with their spouses and young kids in tow. When it's their turn, the White House staffers enter for a few private moments with President Barack Obama, a photo and a farewell hug from the boss.
There's a mass exodus underway this week at the White House, as Obama and his staff pack up their offices and turn in their BlackBerrys. For some who joined Obama's team right out of college, it's the end of the only professional experience they've ever known.
The finals days of any president's administration are always bittersweet and heavy on nostalgia, as officials face the transition back to being "civilians" who will no longer have their hands on the nation's levers of power. There is added sadness for Obama staffers who, by and large, are horrified by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
"You're always aware that it's a special privilege to work there and not something to take for granted," said Nate Lowentheil, who worked on Obama's National Economic Council for the last three years. "It's particularly hard knowing the next wave of people coming are going to be working to reverse the things you were working to advance until your very last hour."
As White House press secretary Josh Earnest emerged in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday to give his final press briefing — his 354th as press secretary, Earnest said — there were tears on the faces of some of his deputies. In the back of the room, current and former Obama staffers gathered to witness his last round of jousting with reporters.
"I'm going to miss it," Earnest said. "It will take some getting used to seeing somebody else standing up here doing it."
"Or not," he added, in a nod to the prospect that Trump's team may make changes to the daily briefing.
In between closing out final projects and typing up reports on the work they've done, White House staffers are packing away their knickknacks, coffeemakers and photos. The boxes stack up in offices already vacated by staffers who have departed over the past few weeks.
By Thursday night, all must be gone to make way for Trump's team.
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