A white powder found inside the White House which sparked an evacuation has been identified as cocaine, according to officials.
Secret Service agents found the white powder on Sunday evening in a West Wing area accessible to tour groups, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.
President Joe Biden was at his Camp David retreat at the time.
The West Wing is attached to the executive mansion where Mr Biden lives. It houses the Oval Office, the cabinet room and press area, and offices and workspace for the president’s staff.
Hundreds of people work in or come through the West Wing regularly.
The Secret Service on Tuesday said that an “unknown item” had been found in work space within the West Wing, leading to the temporary closing of the White House complex.
“On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary closure as officers from the Secret Service Uniformed Division investigated an unknown item found inside a work area,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
A second source familiar with the matter said the substance was found during a routine Secret Service sweep of the area.
It was later identified as cocaine.
“The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item to be non-hazardous,” the Secret Service spokesperson said, adding there was “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the substance entered the White House.
The Washington Post first reported the discovery.
Mr Biden and first lady Dr Jill Biden returned to the White House to host a Fourth of July barbecue for military families.
The White House was decked out with red, white and blue bunting and big US flags draped over the columns facing the South Lawn as millions across the country celebrated Independence Day.
Later, the Bidens watched fireworks from the White House balcony with thousands of guests on the lawn, as Louis Armstrong’s version of “America the Beautiful” played over loudspeakers.
