Maybe he likes the peanuts.
Ohio Rep. John Boehner, Congress’ presumed House Speaker in 2011, will not use a military jet to travel between Washington and his home district, breaking a tradition established when former President Bush authorized the use of military aircraft after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
“I have talked to our security folks about the security that is involved in my new role,” Boehner said Wednesday. “But over the last 20 years, I have flown back and forth to my district on a commercial aircraft and I’m going to continue to do that.”
Since September 11, Speakers have used small military jets to travel between Washington and their districts. Former Speaker Dennis Hastert and current Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled in an Air Force version of the Gulfstream V, which can cost up to $6,000 per hour, according to documents obtained in January by a watchdog group through a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents showed that taxpayers spent $2.1 million in the first two years of Pelosi’s term on her travel expenses.
The Speaker is second in the presidential line of succession behind the vice president.