JD Vance planned to travel with his young son on Marine Two to Joint Base Andrews for a golf lesson, but the flight was canceled last week because of severe thunderstorms and high winds in Washington, D.C. The request drew internal complaints from Secret Service staff assigned to the vice president and his family.
One person with knowledge of the planned trip reacted, “That is RIDICULOUS,” while another said, “Pence and Harris never pulled anything like that.” Those messages capture the friction around a request that would have used a government helicopter for a child’s local trip.
White House Military Office approval
The White House Military Office would have had to authorize the helicopter use for the golf lesson, a step that matters because the trip could not move forward on family preference alone. Operating the helicopter costs taxpayers between $16,000 and $24,600 per hour, according to 2022 Defense Department budget estimates.
Former and current Secret Service supervisors said the request had no precedent, and there is no formal Secret Service policy that bars a vice president’s child from being transported by government helicopter to a local event. That leaves the decision to the authorizing chain above the protective detail, not to the agents escorting the family.
Secret Service complaints
Agents assigned to protect JD Vance and Usha Vance have shared concerns internally about trips and assignments they view as an inappropriate use of government resources. The Vances are also described as having required several last-minute chopper trips to the region around Middleburg, Virginia, while looking for houses to buy or rent there.
The strain is coming on top of a family profile the protective detail has not handled at this scale for decades. The Vances have three children, ages nine, six, and four, and are the first family to reside at the Naval Observatory with young children since Al Gore and his family more than 25 years ago.
Vance office response
A statement from the vice president’s office said, “The Vances are grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service who serve our country with distinction.” It added, “While protecting a Vice President with a large policy portfolio and a young and growing family presents a unique challenge, agents of the Secret Service do so with excellence every day.”
The canceled flight leaves the practical question to the authorization process: if the request is made again, the same chain would have to weigh the route, the timing, and the cost before Marine Two moves. JD Vance, Palantir and the Trump administration's surveillance split — Palantir Video
The immediate result for the family is simple. The golf lesson went on without the helicopter trip, and the agents who had prepared for the flight were left with another last-minute change in a pattern they say has become routine.
