Michael Bloomberg Already Wants To Redecorate The White House

Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg may have entered the 2020 Democratic presidential primary relatively late in the game, although he's already attempting to create a lasting impression. Furthermore to spending more than $100 million on campaign ads in roughly a month, the presidential hopeful is currently unveiling big plans to.... Redecorate the White Residence should he win? Sure, let's go with that!


On Monday, the billionaire revealed his plan to turn the White House's East Room into a "open-office plan, where I'll sit with our team." He handily offered a planned layout for the setup, which includes wall-to-wall cubicles replacing a usually sparse room. According to the official White Residence museum website, the East Room has been used for everything from a location to privately inaugurate Presidents, to medal-presentation ceremonies, to makeshift rollerskating rinks for First Children.


According to Politico, the open-office plan could be in line with similar offices that Bloomberg has set up before; his New York campaign headquarters reportedly features him in the open with each person else, and echoes the setup he long-established as mayor in 2001, and at his eponymous agency before that. There, the Times then announced, his desk was set up in the corner of an open-office, not at the center, as it is shown in the tweet.


People on Twitter wasted no time in reacting to the proposal, which isn't reflected on Bloomberg's campaign website. A page that outlines his history as an entrepreneur promises that, "as president, Mike will work to strengthen the middle class, invest in education, create good-paying jobs in renewable energy and other industries with a bright future, and open the door of possibility to every American;" it isn't clear how an open office at the White Home would contribute to this. Nor is it clear how the open-office would affect daily functions of staffers who performer name rather classified material; most Executive offices generally work out of the West Wing of the building.


While it's not irregular for new administrations to redecorate the White Residence, it remains to be seen what benefit, if any, an open-office plan would bring to a presidency. People who work in open offices are generally more stressed and much less efficient than their closed-door counterparts; one study found that no-walled or low-walled offices increase the assortment of emails people send and receive each day.


"Mike has successfully implemented open office plans both in his organization and for twelve years because the Mayor of New York City," Galia Slayen, Bloomberg's National Organizing Director, told MTV News. "Unlike Donald Trump, Mike and his teams are successful because he has built his career on tearing down walls and building environments where people work with each other to get big things done."


She also pointed to a December 18 LinkedIn post by the candidate that said, "The more transparency there really is, the much less possibility for corruption, self-dealing, and other wrong-doing. In the event you aspire to hide nefarious activity, it’s easier to do that beyond closed doors." MTV News also asked the Bloomberg campaign for clarity on how the open office would affect the American people's everyday lives, along with how it would approach handling classified material in such a space; the campaign did not distribute an on-the-record response to these queries.


As for the Oval Office, Bloomberg did make one notable promise that seems pretty iron-clad: That he would never tweet there.