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Pelosi Wants Access to Military Flights
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office is pressing the White House for routine access to military aircraft for not only herself and her staff, but for relatives and other members of the California delegation as well. A knowledgeable Washington, D.C. source called the request "carte blanche for an aircraft any time." Another source told the Washington Times: "They are pressing the point of her succession and that the [Department of Defense] needs to play ball with the speaker's needs.” The request originally went to the Pentagon, which passed it along to the White House.
Story Continues Below Pelosi's request for military aircraft access is not the first from a speaker, who is second in line in presidential succession. The speaker gained regular access to military planes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who was speaker at the time, began using U.S. Air Force planes for travel to and from his district for security reasons. But a former aide told the Times that Hastert did not use military planes to regularly transport his family, and Pelosi's request goes beyond what Hastert received. Pelosi has used military aircraft for at least one trip back to her San Francisco district. U.S. Air Force travel for members of Congress is first-rate, according to the Times. The aircraft are staffed with stewards who serve meals and tend an open bar, and communications suites allow members to conduct business while traveling.
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Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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