Vice President JD Vance is facing scrutiny after requesting a military helicopter to transport his young son to a golf lesson.
According to a July 15 report from MS NOW, Marine Two, the call sign for the Marine Corps helicopter that carries the vice president, 41, was set to shuttle JD and his son to Joint Base Andrews — home to a secure golf center — on Thursday, July 9. The flight was scrapped at the last minute due to severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Washington, D.C., area. Instead, the vice president’s son was expected to be driven to his golf lesson at Joint Base Andrews in a Secret Service SUV.
Although no official Secret Service rule bars a government helicopter from transporting a vice president’s child to a local event, current and former supervisors said they were unaware of any previous request like it, according to the article.
“Agents have shared concerns internally about Vance and his office pressing them for trips and assignments that some agents consider an inappropriate or even unprecedented use of government resources,” the outlet reported. It added the detail has grown “fed up” with last-minute travel demands from JD and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, 40.
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One source close to the matter contrasted Vance’s travel habits with those of his predecessors, former vice presidents Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. “That is RIDICULOUS,” the person said, per the report. “Pence and Harris never pulled anything like that.”
Another added, “The detail is tired of them not giving notice on things and making everything an OTR [or off-the-record request]. He [Vance] thinks he can still move around like a U.S. Senator.”
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Operating the helicopter costs taxpayers between $16,000 and $24,600 per hour, per 2022 Defense Department estimates cited in the article.
According to the outlet, the vice president’s office released this statement: “The Vances are grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service who serve our country with distinction… agents of the Secret Service do so with excellence every day.”
Frustration within the ranks has reportedly taken a creative turn. Agents have even made custom coins and stickers featuring Vance’s Secret Service code name, “Bobcat” — a nod to his Ohio roots described in his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy — to poke fun at his frequent family travel requests.
The memorabilia, per the outlet, bears the phrase “Bobcat OTR Survivors Club,” along with the motto, “Advance. OTR. Repeat.”
As Globe previously reported, Vance recently boasted about the perks of being vice president on the July 8 episode of Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It podcast.
“My life is so weird. I fly around on a 757,” he said, referring to Air Force Two. “No more TSA lines for me and the kids.”
“My life is — dude, totally transformed. I don’t go to the grocery store anymore; people go to the grocery store for me,” JD continued. “I like to cook for my kids as a special occasion, but I don’t have to cook anymore because I have an army of people willing to cook me my food.”
This story JD Vance Tried to Use Military Helicopter to Travel to Son’s Golf Lesson, Sparking Secret Service Frustration first appeared on Globe. Follow Globe on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.