‘White House’ Updates: Executive Office Plans on Spending $700,000 on Standing Desks

The White House may have read the news about a new study that suggests that sitting for long hours could kill and is joining the standing craze. The primary institution in the country is planning on splurging a good $700,000 on standing desks.

The National Journal says that the Executive Office of the President is seeking standing desks that could cost up to $700,000. This cost is a rough estimate over a five-year period. And although the current administration is set to end in January 2017, the next four years of the contract after that is optional.

However, the President and other employees would not settle for just any kind of standing desks. They prefer the "Var­idesk brand name or equal," as stated in the request.

Varidesks allow users to switch between sitting and standing. But, they are not cheap. Each desk may cost around $400-$500 each. The models are said to be durable which can hold up to 45 pounds and come fully-assembled.

Further requirements asked by the request as posted in the National Journal are as follows:

"A fully as­sembled height ad­justable stand­ing desktop that sits on top of an ex­ist­ing desk (no as­sembly [i.e., no clamps or arms]); Key­board/mouse tray in­cluded as part of the sys­tem; Ease of use (mul­tiple heights/po­s­i­tions); The ad­just­ment must be sturdy, stable and safe at all height ex­ten­sions to ac­com­mod­ate in­di­vidu­als of vari­ous heights while they are in a stand­ing po­s­i­tion; Dur­able, abil­ity to with­stand wear and tear; Must hold up to 35 pounds; Desk at­tach­ment should have an op­tion that fits eas­ily in­to corners; No loss of work space; Col­or: black unit; Must be fully port­able (eas­ily moved from desk to desk) and eas­ily stored (not cum­ber­some or bulky for stor­age); and Min­im­um of one-year war­ranty in­cluded."

The non-sitting worklife may have just recently boomed, but some high-profile Republicans have praised the nonsedentary life.

"I stand for 8-10 hours a day," former De­fense Sec­ret­ary Don­ald Rums­feld wrote in 2002. "Why is stand­ing lim­ited to four hours?"

Should the White House spend as much as $700,000 on standing desks?