Chris Megerian, Associated Press
12 minutes ago
FILE – President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on March 21, 2024, heading to Houston. The White House and Democratic National Committee are splitting Biden's travel expenses while he runs for a second term. This is part of a long-standing arrangement that prevents taxpayers from paying the full cost of political travel. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving a commander in chief from point A to point B is no easy task, and it gets even more complicated when the president is seeking a second term.
President Joe Biden recently spent three days in Pennsylvania, a crucial state in his 2024 campaign, and is scheduled to visit Virginia and Florida this week. The Democratic incumbent is seeking an advantage over Republican Donald Trump as he ramps up his travels across the country.
Here's a look at how much it costs during the campaign period and who pays the bill.
How much does it cost?
Flying the president's plane isn't cheap.
The White House uses a Sikorsky helicopter known as Marine One to carry the president, as well as a custom-built Boeing 747 that is instantly recognizable as the iconic humpback Air Force One. ing. (Presidents may also use a more modest version of the 757 if the destination is close or the runway is not long enough to accommodate a larger aircraft.)
Marine One costs between $16,700 and nearly $20,000 per hour to operate, according to Department of Defense data for the 2022 budget year. Air Force One is even more expensive, at about $200,000 per hour.
However, these numbers only scratch the surface of the real costs. There's even a military cargo plane that flies ahead of the president to make sure his armored limousine is in place, not to mention the huge security presence that follows him everywhere.
New aircraft are in development, as the current version is several decades old. Sikorsky produces 23 modern helicopters that serve as Marine One. Boeing is currently building two new Air Force One aircraft, expected to be completed by 2028. According to the Department of Defense, the plane is equipped with a “mission communication system,” “self-defense system,” and “automatic cargo loading.”
Who pays for the trip?
If the president flies on a plane for political purposes, his campaign is supposed to pay for it. But in election years, the line between governing and campaigning can blur.
For example, Biden held an official event in Pittsburgh on Wednesday where he announced proposed increases in tariffs on steel imports from China. But the event was a not-so-subtle opportunity for the president to rub shoulders with union members important to his re-election bid, and he slammed President Trump in his remarks. (At one point, Biden joked that the former president is “busy right now,” referring to the hush-money trial that recently began in New York.)
It is up to the White House Counsel's Office to figure out what percentage of the president's travel is related to campaign activities. That will determine how much restitution the Biden campaign should pay to the federal government. In some cases, the math is not simple, such as when the White House adds official events to political travel.
Norm Eisen, who served as White House ethics lawyer under President Barack Obama, said both Republicans and Democrats have typically adhered to regulations.
“We had a set of rules for how to allocate,” he says. “They're complicated, but we stuck with it.”
In either case, taxpayers will foot the bulk of the cost. The campaign does not pay for all the costs of Secret Service agents and other security equipment. In fact, they typically only cover the costs of Air Force One passengers who fly for explicitly political purposes. It's like buying a ticket for a particularly fancy private jet.
How much did Biden pay?
The Biden campaign and joint fundraising committee have been stockpiling travel funds in an escrow account managed by the Democratic National Committee. From January 2023 to the end of last month, they deposited nearly $6.5 million.
A portion of the funds will be used for general campaign activities, including personnel costs and pre-work. The account will also be used to reimburse the federal government for official aircraft used by the president, first lady, vice president and second son as they travel to run for re-election.
So far, not much money has returned to the U.S. Treasury. As of the latest data available, only $300,000 has been offered.
It's safe to assume that Biden's campaign will ultimately diverge even further once the campaign is over. The Trump campaign reimbursed the federal government for nearly $4.7 million in 2020 campaign travel expenses.
But Biden probably won't have a hard time paying the bills. His campaign and the DNC held more than $192 million in cash at the end of March.
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Associated Press White House correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
