As a pair of Democratic lawmakers launch a probe into FBI Director Kash Patel’s alleged use of taxpayer money for private jets and other perks, another member of the Trump administration is drawing similar scrutiny.
Secret Service supervisors say agents tasked with protecting Vice President JD Vance and his family have become “fed up” with their travel demands, which they describe as being both “hastily arranged” and “inappropriate.”
An MS NOW report published Wednesday claims those agents consider some of Vance’s requests to be “inappropriate or even unprecedented use of government resources compared to prior vice presidents,” including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
As an example, the report points to Vance’s planned use of government helicopter Marine Two to transport him and one of his young sons to a golf lesson at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
The trip ended up being canceled due to inclement weather, but nonetheless, the instance “reflects a building morale problem inside the team of agents” assigned to Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, as well as their three young children.
The supervisors told MS NOW that Secret Service agents often transport children to local events in sport utility vehicles, and that vice presidents have traditionally avoided relying on government perks for the convenience of their children’s schedules.
The use of Marine Two must be authorized by the White House Military Office, which reports to President Donald Trump. According to 2022 Defense Department budget estimates, operating the helicopter costs taxpayers between $16,000 and $24,600 an hour.
“That is RIDICULOUS,” one person with knowledge of the planned golf trip told MS NOW. “Pence and Harris never pulled anything like that.” The report also includes images of custom coins and stickers purportedly created by agents to mock the frequency of the Vance family’s last-minute travel and feature the word “Bobcat,” which is the vice president’s Secret Service code name.
Vance’s office responded to the outlet’s claims in a statement, which read: “The Vances are grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service who serve our country with distinction.”
“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 statement continued.
The report comes about a week after two Democratic lawmakers, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, confirmed they’d begun a formal investigation into Patel’s use of public resources.
The pair said in a press release that they’d obtained a May 5 letter sent to Patel by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in which Grassley “raised serious concerns” about the FBI director’s “use of government aircraft, his purchase of a fleet of luxury BMW vehicles, and whether he has reimbursed taxpayers for personal travel.”
The FBI seemingly responded to the letter by sharing an infographic on X touting Patel’s “personal travel and cost savings.”
“DESPITE what the lying media wants you to believe. This FBI is more efficient and effective in every way,” the post read. “We are just getting started.”