President Joe Biden's tenure in office doesn't officially end until January 2025, but for all intents and purposes his term was unofficially over when he dropped his bid for re-election in July and handed the Democratic nomination over to Vice President Kamala Harris

Biden's premature abdication of the presidency was evident again on Monday when first lady Jill Biden led the U.S. delegation to attend the inauguration of Mexico's new President Claudia Sheinbaum, Spectrum News reported.

This was merely the latest example of the elderly lame-duck president appearing to cede his power and responsibility to his spouse, as the first lady seemed to take charge of a rare Cabinet meeting less than two weeks earlier.

Jill leads U.S. officials for Mexican ceremony

Sheinbaum, the first woman and first person of Jewish descent elected as president of Mexico, was sworn in on Tuesday to replace outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Present at that inauguration ceremony was a small delegation of senior U.S. officials led by first lady Jill Biden that included Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Nanette Barragán, (D-CA), U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Chris Coons (D-DE), and Tucson, Arizona Mayor Regina Romero.

The delegation arrived in Mexico City on Monday for a reception at Ambassador Salazar's residence, where Biden delivered brief remarks and said, "Few country-to-country relationships are as consequential to Americans’ daily lives as that of the United States and Mexico. I am honored to be with you tonight to celebrate the strength of the relationship between our countries -- at such a historic moment."

"Joe and I -- and so many Americans -- wish her well and look forward to her leadership," she later added. "Under Dr. Sheinbaum’s presidency, I know that we will continue to build a more prosperous, safe, and democratic region. And take the next steps in our U.S.-Mexico partnership. We are all part of that work."

Joe dispatched Jill in his place

For his part, President Biden marked the historic change of power in America's southern neighbor and trading partner with a statement that said, "Jill and I extend our heartfelt congratulations to President Claudia Sheinbaum on her inauguration."

"As a symbol of our respect and the friendship between our two nations, our First Lady is leading the Delegation to President Sheinbaum’s inauguration, along with many senior leaders from my administration," he continued. "Jill and I wish President Sheinbaum a joyful celebration and a very successful presidency, and we congratulate the people of Mexico on the historic inauguration of their first woman president."

"Mexico and the United States are strong partners and close neighbors and we share deep political, economic, and cultural ties," Biden added. "The United States is committed to continuing to work with Mexico to deliver the democratic, prosperous, and secure future that the people of our two countries deserve."

Jill took over a Cabinet meeting

The president stepping aside to let the first lady lead the U.S. delegation to Mexico was reminiscent of just a week and a half earlier when, for the first time since last October, President Biden convened his Cabinet for a meeting but quickly handed control of the press availability segment over to his wife and said, "And it’s all yours, kid."

The first lady then spoke at length about various White House initiatives related to research and innovations in women's healthcare and even seemed to direct the gathered department heads that make up the president's Cabinet to do more to support those efforts.

According to National Review, Jill spoke nearly twice as long as Joe did in their respective opening remarks, as she uttered 563 words in comparison to just 305 for him.

Even if Joe's brief responses to a handful of questions from reporters are factored in, that brings his total word count up to 424 words, or around three-quarters as many as Jill spoke.