For Biden, the White House is 'a Monday-through-Friday kind of place'

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Beginning in 1973, when he was a United States Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden had a ritual: nearly every evening he would hop a train back to Wilmington after his work day on Capitol Hill, spending most nights and weekends at the place he considered home, 100 miles from Washington. Doing so earned him the nickname "Amtrak Joe," and in 2011, the Wilmington depot was renamed the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station. In all, he took more than 8,000 of those roundtrips during his 36 years in the Senate and, though less frequently, his eight years as vice president, no small feat for a busy politician. Turns out old habits die hard. Since taking office four months ago, the President has spent more weekends away from the White House than he has stayed there, almost three times as many. Counting this Memorial Day weekend, Biden has been in Wilmington nine weekends and passed five weekends at the presidential retreat, Camp David, in rural Maryland. The numbers far exceed any modern president's weekends off-campus at this point in his tenure. "He thinks of (the White House) more like a Monday-through-Friday kind of place," said one of several people familiar with Biden's thinking who spoke to CNN for this story and were granted anonymity in order to preserve relationships. This person said the people's house was akin to presidential corporate housing. "Really, really high-end corporate housing." "Joe Biden has always been the guy who goes home to Delaware," said another person who has worked with the President. "The White House isn't going to change that." Biden's instinct -- sometimes last-minute, say those familiar with his schedule -- is to get away from it for a weekly breather. One person said it's the escapism aspect of getting away from "the office" that drives him to seek another location. Even if it's Tuesday and the schedule says he will be at the White House for that weekend -- or it doesn't say he's going anywhere -- in the back of my mind, I know he's going to not be at the White House," said another person who works as part of the presidential entourage, acknowledging that now used to Biden's habits, they plan accordingly. "The worst is when the decision happens on a Wednesday to leave on Friday, or even a Thursday to leave on Saturday." The absence of a president and first lady in the White House over multiple weekends also leaves the Executive Residence staff with a lighter workload. With both Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden away, the number of butlers, housekeepers and cooks dwindles to a skeleton crew. "The staff work there because they want to serve the president and the first lady," said someone who works in the White House residence. "I think it's lonely for them at times. You miss taking care of the principals." One of the people who works in the White House speculates it's possible Biden might still think of the White House as the spot where his former boss, Obama, lived and worked. "It's sort of like moving into your ex's place," said the source. "It wasn't an issue for Trump, or Obama, who didn't go there as a second-lieutenant, but for someone like Biden who spent so much time at the White House over the years meeting with his 'boss,' it could be weird to basically move into that person's old apartment."

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