By Xinhua
Washington : U.S. President George W. Bush will temporarily cede presidential power to his deputy Dick Cheney for a colonoscopy on Saturday, the White House said on Friday.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Cheney will serve as acting president until such time as Bush, who will be under anesthesia during the medical check, says he is ready to resume duties.
The colonoscopy will be conducted at the presidential retreat Camp David, Maryland.
It will be the second time that Bush handed over his powers to Cheney due to his colonoscopy.
On June 29, 2002, Bush ceded presidential powers to Cheney for more than two hours during the routine colon screening.
Although the results were good, doctors advised him to undergo another colonoscopy after five years.
Bush invoked Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to make the temporary power transfer.
The amendment was adopted in 1967 as a means of dealing with presidential disability and succession.
Bush, 61, is the second president who ever invoked the presidential disability clause.
Former President Ronald Reagan was the first to invoke it.
Snow said no symptoms of cancer has been found for Bush, who is a routine exerciser.
In 1998 and 1999, two polyps were discovered in Bush's body during medical checks when he was governor of Texas.
Since then he has been undergoing regular examinations.
For normal people, a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer is recommended every 10 years.
But for a "higher-risk" individual, or if a colonoscopy detectsprecancerous polyps, follow-up colonoscopy will usually be conducted in every three or five years.