US President to be given colonoscopy at Camp David

US President George Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy tomorrow and temporarily hand over US presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

Snow told reporters today that Bush will have the procedure done at his Camp David mountain-top retreat.

The last time Bush had colon and rectal cancer surveillance was on June 29, 2002. Doctors then advised him to have another colonoscopy in five years.

“The president has had no symptoms,” Snow said.

The procedure will be supervised by the president’s doctor, Richard Tubb, and will be performed by a medical team from the National Naval Medical Centre.

Snow said that because the president will be under the effects of anaesthesia, he once again has elected to implement Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Cheney will serve as acting president until Bush notifies authorities he is ready to reassume his powers.