The Obama family vacations and travel expenses have cost more than $85 million over eight years, according to a watchdog group.
Judicial Watch, a conservative group that frequently files FOIA requests, said that the family has spent more than $10 million each year for eight years.
“Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained records from the U.S. Secret Service revealing that its travel expenses for the First Family’s 2015 Hawaiian vacation cost taxpayers $1.2 million, which bring the total cost of the vacation trip to at least $4.8 million,” said Judicial Watch in a statement.
It added, in reference to the December 2015 to January 2016 trip, “This was the Obamas’ eighth Hawaiian family vacation. The trip has become an annual event for the Obamas. To date, Obama’s and his family’s travel expenses total at least $85,029,819.”
In the vacation, Secret Service travel cost to Hawaii cost $1,234,316.67, hotel and lodging costs totaled $1,000,458.63, air and rail expenses totaled $67,964.16, and the Secret Service spent $165,893.88 on car rentals, Judicial Watch said.
The Obamas are slated to leave for their annual Christmas Trip. Last year, the trip lasted from Dec. 18 to Jan. 3.
Obama has taken about 217 vacation days, according to longtime CBS reporter Mark Knoller. “Well, since taking office, Obama had played 106 rounds of golf, 50 of them on the course at Joint Base Andrews, home of Air Force One—on which, by the way, Obama had flown 827 times. Knoller has similar stats on George W. Bush and a partial record for Bill Clinton,” according to a Washingtonian article on Knoller.
It’s worth noting, however, that former President George W. Bush took 879 days of vacation, which included 77 trips to his Texas ranch.
