President Obama’s travel expenses have cost American taxpayers at least $72 million since he took office, according to a new watchdog report.
This means that Obama’s known travel expenses have cost taxpayers more than $10 million each year he has been in the White House, according to a report published Thursday by Judicial Watch.
The watchdog updated the president’s total travel expenses after estimating that the government billed taxpayers over $2 million for Obama’s Columbus Day weekend trip with his family last October.
According to records from the Air Force obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, it cost nearly $1 million in flight expenses alone for the first family to travel for Los Angeles to San Diego and then back to Washington, D.C., with each hour of flight time totaling more than $200,000.
While the records provided in response to the FOIA request did not include data on the initial trip from Washington to Los Angeles, Judicial Watch estimated the cost at over $1 million, elevating the total expense of the sojourn to more than $2 million in travel costs alone.
The Obama family spent the holiday at the Rancho Santa Fe resort community, which is known for its golf courses and luxurious hotels.