First Lady Jill Biden Undergoes 'Medical Procedure’, Pres. Biden Clears Schedule To Accompany Her

First lady Jill Biden underwent a “common medical procedure” on Wednesday morning at an outpatient center in Washington, D.C., the White House said. President Joe Biden accompanied his wife to the procedure, and returned to the White House two hours later.

“The first lady tolerated the procedure well" and was "heading back to the White House to resume her normal schedule," Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden's communications director, said in a statement.

White House officials on late Tuesday announced that the procedure would be part of the president’s public schedule. The officials did not share any information about the procedure, including whether it was planned.

The first lady did not have any scheduled public events on Wednesday. She is expected to travel to Illinois with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Monday.

On Wednesday, President Biden formally announced his decision to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan on May 1, with a full withdrawal scheduled for Sept. 11. The withdrawal would end America's longest war on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Biden's withdrawal plan will keep thousands of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the exit deadline of May 1 that former President Donald Trump's administration negotiated with the Taliban in 2020, according to an unnamed senior administration official quoted by The Washington Post.

Roughly 3,500 U.S. troops are currently in Afghanistan, along with roughly 7,000 NATO and allied troops. The U.S. started striking Afghanistan military forces in October 2001.

“This is the immediate, practical reality that our policy review discovered,” the source said. “If we break the May 1 deadline negotiated by the previous administration with no clear plan to exit, we will be back at war with the Taliban, and that was not something President Biden believed was in the national interest.”

Biden also visited Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. It serves as the final resting place for American service members who were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.