First Lady Pool Reports of January 29, 2022

FLOTUS pool report #1/care packages with governors' spouses and SGOTUS

FLOTUS pool gathering shortly for 2pm East Room event.

Background from FLOTUS' office:

The First Lady and the Second Gentleman are hosting governors’ spouses and the spouses of DOD civilian and military leadership for an Operation Gratitude care package service event at the White House today. The First Lady, the Second Gentleman, governors’ spouses, and DOD spouses will assemble care packages for 1,000 national guardsmen and women who are activated around the country in support of missions related to COVID, inclement weather, and natural disasters. Today’s event is the first of three NGA Governors’ Spouses’ Program events that the First Lady will attend over the weekend. Dr. Biden last engaged with Operation Gratitude during transition, when she attended a care package service event at the DC Armory with then-nominee for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his spouse Charlene. James Johnson, President and CEO, of Operation Gratitude will join them. Operation Gratitude is one of the largest nonprofits in the country for hands-on volunteerism in support of military, veterans, and first responders, offering volunteer opportunities for every American to express their appreciation to all who serve and protect our nation.

Governors’ Spouses
• Susan Burrell Hutchinson, Arkansas (R) – Chair
• Tammy Snyder Murphy, New Jersey (D) – Vice Chair
• Rose Dunleavy, Alaska (R)
• Angela Ducey, Arizona (R)
• Tracey Carney, Delaware (D)
• Jeff Cook, Guam (D)
• Dawn Amano-Ige (D)
• Donna Edwards, Louisiana (D)
• Yumi Hogan, Maryland (R)
• Lauren Baker, Massachusetts (R)
• Susan Gianforte, Montana (R)
• Kathy Sisolak, Nevada (D)
• Bill Hochul, New York (D)
• Kristin Cooper, North Carolina (D)
• Kathryn Burgum, North Dakota (R)
• Fran DeWine, Ohio (R)
• Sarah Stitt, Oklahoma (R)
• Dan Little, Oregon (D)
• Frances Wolf, Pennsylvania (D)
• Abby Cox, Utah (R)
• Yolanda Cabodevilla Bryan, Virgin Islands (D)
• Kathy Evers, Wisconsin (D)

DOD Senior Leader Spouses
• Mrs. Charlene Austin, Spouse, The Secretary of Defense
• Mrs. Hollyanne Milley, Spouse, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Mrs. Christine Grady, Spouse, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
• Staff
• Mrs. Maria McConville, Spouse, Chief of Staff of the Army
• Mrs. Alexandra Grinston, Spouse, Sergeant Major of the Army
• Mrs. Linda Gilday, Spouse, Chief of Naval Operations
• Mrs. Sharene Brown, Spouse, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
• Mrs. Mollie Raymond, Spouse, Chief of Space Operations, Space Force
• Mrs. Kelly Hokanson, Spouse, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
• Mrs. Dawn Schultz, Spouse, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

FLOTUS pool report #2/governors' spouses East Room

Pool entered the East Room around 2p after a brisk -- 25 degrees and sunny but feels like 12 -- but brief gather at the Palm Room doors.

(note this didn't go out until after I'd sent out FLOTUS report #3)

FLOTUS pool #3/care packages in the East Room

First lady Jill Biden and dozens of gubernatorial spouses in town for the National Governors Association meeting this weekend have been hard at work since about 2:15 in the East Room, assembling care packages for Operation Gratitude. The goal is 1,000 boxes in 90 minutes. The boxes are intended for National Guard personnel deployed to help with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Biden welcomed the spouses, with Arkansas first lady Susan Hutchinson, whose husband chairs the NGA, at her side. Dr. Biden and Hutchinson mostly stuck together for the assembly line.

Dr. Biden urged them to stick around afterwards. "I want you to take your time. I want you to look through the different rooms. … Look up at the ceiling. Every day I discovered something amazing and wonderful and beautiful. And I just think it's so great that we all came together and instead of eating" – she was referring to the fact that everyone was masked. "Even more important that we come together and yet we do something together especially for our military."

All but two of the spouses are women. (Oregon and Guam, I believe.) The second gentleman is here, too.

Rich Headley, a Marine veteran and senior director of military and veteran programs for Operation Gratitude, gave instructions on assembling the boxes, in full drill sergeant voice filling the ornate room. Important to start by filling the bottom corners or it wouldn't all fit:

A box of Fudge Stripes cookies. A handmade blank card for soldiers to write home with. Bag of Caffe Verona Starbucks. Hand-knit scarves and hats. Milk chocolate oranges, 5-Hour Energy. Snack bars. Gum. Beanie Babies. A small bag of Cracker Jack. Packet of tissues. A camouflage draw string bag. Nerds. The most unusual present: a bracelet that stretches to about 7 feet – "paracord survival bracelet" – for use as a tie down.

Headley told a quick story about how a Beanie Baby had saved lives in Iraq when a Marine gave one to a child and then next day, the child warned him not to go down a particular road because of IEDs.

At the end of the line, just before the volunteers closing the boxes with packing tape, were two Defense Department spouses, Hollyanne Milley and Charlene Austin. They were tucking in red white and blue gaiters, hand-written thank you notes from people around the country, and a card from the White House as the final touches on the care package.

Two long lines of tables were set south to north in the East Room. At the south end of the room were stacks of empty boxes waiting to be filled – so high they were taller than the military officer standing nearby, though slightly shorter than two of the Secret Service agents stationed at that end of the room.

At one point Mrs. Hutchinson unfolded a scarf and seemed to be admiring the craftsmanship before folding it and putting it in a box.

About a half- hour into the assembly, with the pool having gathered about all the footage and color they could, Dr. Biden invited the pool to come around the table and pitch in.

Peppy music played in the back – like, "Walking on Sunshine" as the stack of empty boxes shrank and the stack of filled and sealed boxes grew at the far end of the room.

Dr. Biden chatted with various first spouses as the process went on.

FLOTUS pool report #4

This is a duplicate of POTUS pool report #3. Your pooler is wearing two hats this afternoon.

And this should be the final FLOTUS report of the day.

The President arrived in the East Room at 3:20 pm as the first lady and dozens of spouses of governors were just about done assembling 1,000 care packages for Operation Gratitude.

This was not on the president's schedule.

"I wish you were all here having lunch," the President told the first spouses from around the country, in a nod to Covid precautions.

"When Beau was in Iraq for a year he said it was a really big deal when he would get these packages. ... Thanks for all you're doing," the President said.

He chatted with the first lady of the US Virgin Islands.

"For years and years Jill and I would rent a place in the Virgin Islands. Right on a cove and you never had to leave," he said.

Jill Biden then assembled the spouses for a group photo as her husband continued to shmooze.

Jill Biden: "Should we do this with Joe or without Joe?" She called him over to join the group photo.

"The good news is, you have masks on, you can deny you've been here," POTUS joked after the photo.

Pool ushered out at 3:30. The Bidens are still chatting with gov spouses.