WASHINGTON (AP) — Shifting the commander in chief from level A to B isn’t any straightforward matter, and it's much more sophisticated when the president is looking for a second time period.
President Joe Biden lately spent three days in Pennsylvania, a key state within the 2024 marketing campaign, and plans to go to Virginia and Florida subsequent week. The Democratic incumbent is looking for a bonus over Republican Donald Trump as he ramps up his travels throughout the nation.
Right here's a take a look at how a lot it prices and who's footing the invoice throughout marketing campaign season.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
It's not low cost to fly the president's fleet.
The White Home makes use of Sikorsky helicopters, referred to as Marine One when the president is aboard, in addition to custom-made Boeing 747s, immediately recognizable as Air Power One's iconic humpback whales. (Generally the president makes use of a extra modest modified 757 when his vacation spot is close by or the runway will not be lengthy sufficient to accommodate the bigger plane.)
Marine One prices between $16,700 and practically $20,000 an hour to function, based on Pentagon knowledge for fiscal 12 months 2022. Air Power One is much more costly: about $200,000 an hour.
However these numbers solely scratch the floor of the particular prices. There are additionally navy cargo planes that fly in entrance of the president to make sure his armored limousines are in place, to not point out the huge safety equipment that follows the president in every single place.
New plane are within the works as present variations are a long time previous. Sikorsky is producing 23 up to date helicopters to function Marine One. Boeing is constructing two new Air Power One plane, scheduled for completion by 2028. In keeping with the Pentagon, the planes will likely be outfitted with all upgrades, together with “a mission communications system,” a “self-defense system,” and even “self-defense system.” “Autonomous baggage loading.”
WHO pays for the journey?
If the president flies for political causes, the election marketing campaign ought to foot the invoice. However throughout an election 12 months, the road between governing and campaigning may be blurred.
For instance, Biden held an official occasion in Pittsburgh on Wednesday the place he introduced his proposal for larger tariffs on metal imported from China. However the occasion was a not-so-subtle alternative for the president to have interaction with union members crucial to his re-election, and he took a swipe at Trump in his remarks. (At one level, Biden joked that the previous president was “busy proper now,” a reference to the hush cash trial that lately started in New York.)
It's as much as the White Home counsel's workplace to determine what proportion of the president's journey is campaign-related. That determines how a lot the federal authorities needs to be reimbursed by the Biden marketing campaign. Generally the calculations aren't straightforward, like when the White Home provides an official occasion to an in any other case political journey.
Norm Eisen, an ethics lawyer within the White Home below President Barack Obama, stated each Republicans and Democrats have sometimes caught carefully to laws.
“We had a algorithm for allocation,” he stated. “They’re sophisticated and we caught to them.”
Be that as it might, the taxpayer should bear the vast majority of the prices. Campaigns don’t finance all intelligence brokers and the remainder of the safety equipment. In actual fact, they normally solely cowl the prices of Air Power One passengers who’re flying for explicitly political causes – just like shopping for a ticket for a very unique personal jet.
How a lot did Biden pay?
Biden's marketing campaign staff and his joint fundraising committee have saved journey funds in a Democratic Nationwide Committee belief account. From January 2023 to the top of final month, they deposited virtually $6.5 million.
A part of this cash goes in direction of basic marketing campaign logistics, equivalent to personnel prices and preparatory work. The account will even be used to reimburse the federal authorities for the official plane used to move the president, first woman, vp and second gentleman once they journey to re-election efforts.
Up to now, not a lot cash has flowed again into the US Treasury. In keeping with the newest obtainable knowledge, solely $300,000 has been allotted.
It's protected to imagine that Biden's marketing campaign will find yourself making much more distinction when the marketing campaign is over. Trump's staff reimbursed the federal authorities practically $four.7 million for journey bills in the course of the 2020 race.
However Biden possible gained't have any bother paying his payments. His marketing campaign and the DNC had greater than $192 million in money on the finish of March.
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AP White Home correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.