Secret Service Reportedly ‘Fed Up’ With JD Vance’s Travel Plans

Oliver Contreras/Pool Photo via AP

Secret Service agents assigned to Vice President JD Vance and his family are reportedly “fed up” with their frequent last-minute travel requests, MS NOW reported on Wednesday.

The outlet’s Carol Leonnig and Vaughn Hillyard wrote that agents complained among themselves last Thursday as they prepared for Vance and his son to travel aboard the Marine Two helicopter for the elementary school student’s golf lesson. The flight was ultimately canceled because of severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Washington, D.C., area.

While there is no formal Secret Service rule barring a vice president’s child from traveling aboard a government helicopter, current and former Secret Service supervisors told the outlet they were unaware of any precedent for using one for such a purpose. According to MS NOW, using Marine Two costs taxpayers anywhere between $16,000 and $24,600 per hour.

“That is RIDICULOUS,” one person familiar with the planned trip said. “[Former Vice President Mike] Pence and [former Vice President Kamala] Harris never pulled anything like that.”

The episode reportedly reflects broader frustration among members of Vance’s security detail over the family’s tendency to make sudden changes to their travel plans, with sources telling MS NOW those agents are “fed up.” The Vances have also recently taken several last-minute helicopter trips to the Middleburg, Virginia, area while searching for a home to buy or rent, according to the report.

“They change everything,” one person said. “They don’t stick to their schedules, and that costs shit-tons of taxpayer money.”

These types of quickly planned trips are known within the Secret Service as “off the record” movements and can force agents to cancel days off and quickly develop new security plans, per the outlet. The frustration has also allegedly inspired agents to create custom coins and stickers reading “Bobcat OTR Survivors Club,” a reference to Vance’s Secret Service code name. The items also feature the motto, “Advance. OTR. Repeat.”

“The detail is tired of them not giving notice on things and making everything an OTR,” one person familiar with the agents’ frustration said. “He [Vance] thinks he can still move around like a U.S. Senator.”

The vice president’s office praised the agents protecting the family in a statement to MS NOW, saying the Vances are “grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service who serve our country with distinction.”

An official from President Donald Trump’s administration, along with Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn, also defended the vice president, noting that Vance is raising a young family and saying last-minute changes are sometimes unavoidable given the demands of his position.

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