Top Obama advisers Jarrett and Axelrod given car privileges traditionally reserved for national security officials

Those who get it automatically include the president and vice president, cabinet members and their deputies, the national security adviser and the White House chief of staff.

There are some distinctions. The president, the vice president, the treasury secretary, the secretary of homeland security, the national security adviser and the chief of staff all get Secret Service protection, so their cars are driven by service agents.

The secretary of defense and secretary of state have their own security apparatus, who ferry them around town. The rest of the cabinet and their deputies get “portal to portal” cars driven by military aides from the White House motor pool.

In addition to all these, President George W. Bush designated the deputy national security adviser and his homeland security adviser to receive “portal to portal” privileges as well, Joe Hagin, who was Bush’s deputy chief of staff for operations, said.

On Aug. 16, 2007, Bush added Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, his “war czar” for Iraq and Afghanistan, to the list of those on the “portal to portal” list, according to a copy of a letter sent by Alan Swendiman, special assistant to Bush in the office of administration, to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Clinton, in 1994, gave the “portal to portal” privilege to the assistant to the president for public liaison, Alexis Herman, from February to April, according to a copy of a June 16, 1994 letter to the House Oversight Committee.

Jarrett, in addition to her position as a senior adviser to Obama, carries the title of assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement.

A larger group of the president’s top aides – anywhere from 40 to 50 who fit the title “commissioned officers” – have access to drivers and cars from the White House motor pool throughout the day. But they must drive themselves to and from the White House when they come to work and go home.

Hagin said that during the Bush administration “there were people lobbying for portal to portal,” most of them from agencies outside the White House, such as the State Department.

“It’s a big status symbol and it is nice.”

After the 9/11 attacks, Hagin said, an expanded number of aides were given “portal to portal” privileges for security reasons, but that lasted only a few weeks.

And a number of publicly visible aides to Bush were given some Secret Service protection. But Hagin said that amounted only to ensuring that homes were secure and occasional visits by a uniformed patrol car to show a physical presence.

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