Biden’s Dog Commander Bites Secret Service Officer in 11th Known Incident

Commander, the 2-year-old German shepherd belonging to President Joe Biden, bit a U.S. Secret Service uniformed officer at the White House on the evening of Sept. 25, 2023, marking the 11th known biting incident involving the animal. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that the officer was treated by medical personnel at the White House. The injured officer subsequently spoke with Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Alfonso M. Dyson Sr. and, according to Guglielmi, was reported to be doing well. NPR first reported the Sept. 25 incident as part of its ongoing coverage of Commander's conduct at the White House ^[1].

The Sept. 25 bite was not an isolated event. Commander had bitten several Secret Service agents a total of 10 times between October 2022 and January 2023. That earlier tally came to light through internal email correspondence obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests filed by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. One of those earlier bites sent an agent to the hospital. In one documented October incident, First Lady Jill Biden could not regain control of the dog as it charged a Secret Service staff member, who warned in an email that it was "only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit." The incidents occurred not only at the White House but also at other Biden residences, according to CNN ^[4].

Secret Service agents are not responsible for the handling of the first family's pets, though the nature of their duties brings them into frequent contact with the animals. The pattern of bites raised workplace safety concerns among personnel and agency leadership alike. By the end of 2022, Commander's behavior had been brought to the attention of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. The agency documented bite incidents as workplace injuries, consistent with how it handled similar events involving pets from prior presidential administrations.

Within days of the Sept. 25 incident, the White House moved to remove Commander from the premises. President Biden's 2-year-old dog was removed from the White House after the German shepherd bit staffers and Secret Service officers, the White House confirmed. First Lady Jill Biden's communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement that "Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated." Alexander did not disclose Commander's location or whether the dog would return to the White House, according to the Washington Post ^[6].

Commander's removal marked the second time the Biden family sent a dog away from the White House for biting. His departure followed that of another Biden dog, a German shepherd named Major, who was sent to live with a family friend in Delaware in 2021 after biting people at the White House. Commander, then a puppy, joined the Bidens at the White House later that same year. The repeated incidents highlight an unresolved tension between the presence of family pets and the occupational safety obligations owed to the hundreds of personnel who work and serve within the White House complex.

References

[1] NPR. (2023, September 27). Commander bites again: Biden's dog has nipped another Secret Service officer. https://www.npr.org/2023/09/27/1201984073/biden-dog-commander-bites-again

[2] CNN. (2023, September 26). Commander Biden bites another Secret Service agent, the 11th known incident. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/politics/commander-biden-biting-incident/index.html

[3] The Washington Post. (2023, October 5). Commander is second Biden dog removed from White House after biting. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/05/biden-dog-commander-removed/