Vice President JD Vance’s office canceled a second planned helicopter flight for his young son’s golf lesson, according to people familiar with the change. The cancellation came a day after an MS NOW report revealed Secret Service agents’ frustrations over the Vance family’s travel demands. Rather than boarding Marine Two, the vice president’s son was to be driven to Joint Base Andrews by agents for a lesson scheduled for Thursday.
The reversal followed the report detailing how agents assigned to Vice President JD Vance, 41, and his family have grown “fed up” with what several described as inappropriate, last-minute, taxpayer-funded travel requests. Secret Service personnel expressed particular concern about a proposed use of military aircraft to transport one of Vance’s children to a golf lesson on the other side of town.
An earlier trip on Marine Two — the call sign for the helicopter that carries the vice president — had been planned for last Thursday but was scrubbed shortly beforehand due to dangerous weather, including powerful storms and strong gusts affecting the capital region, according to two people with knowledge of the flight plans. Vice President Vance had planned to ride along with his son to the base, which houses a secure, world-class golf center.
A Chopper Ride for a Golf Lesson
The idea of flying an elementary-school student to a golf lesson struck agents as excessive. Joint Base Andrews sits roughly a 36-minute drive from the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory. Operating Marine Two costs taxpayers between $16,000 and $24,600 for every hour of use, according to estimates drawn from the 2022 Department of Defense budget.
Such a helicopter trip would have needed sign-off from the White House Military Office, an entity that answers directly to President Donald Trump. Current and former Secret Service supervisors said there is no precedent for deploying a government helicopter to shuttle a vice president’s child to a local activity. There is also no formal policy barring it — but the agents interviewed agreed that prior vice presidents avoided leaning on costly perks for their children’s schedules, and that agents typically drove kids around in SUVs.
According to one person familiar with the golf outing plan, the proposal was “RIDICULOUS,” and neither former Vice President Mike Pence nor former Vice President Kamala Harris had ever made comparable demands.
A Growing Family at the Naval Observatory
Part of the strain traces back to circumstances that set the Vances apart. They are the first occupants of the Naval Observatory residence with young children since Al Gore served as vice president over two decades ago. Vice President Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, have three children — sons aged 9 and 6 and a daughter aged 4 — and second lady Usha Vance is expecting the couple’s fourth child later this month.
The family has also relied on the helicopter for other short-notice trips, including several to the area around Middleburg, Virginia, as they searched for a home to rent or buy while their family expands. Agents said the recurring pattern of abrupt changes wears on morale.
According to sources, past vice presidents and senior officials usually gave the Secret Service advance notice of several days for travel plans, particularly those involving family members, and provided multiple hours’ warning before making changes. The Vances have not followed this pattern. “They change everything,” one unnamed agent said, describing how the shifting schedules burn through taxpayer dollars. Another source said the detail is exhausted by the constant “off the record” movements, adding of Vice President Vance: “He thinks he can still move around like a U.S. senator.”
Coins, Stickers and a ‘Survivors Club’
Some agents have channeled their exasperation into gallows humor. They created commemorative coins and stickers displaying a bobcat’s head — a reference to Vice President Vance’s Secret Service code name, “Bobcat” — emblazoned with “Bobcat OTR Survivors Club” and the motto “Advance. OTR. Repeat.” The line pokes fun at the futility of preparing for planned trips that get scrapped at the last moment, forcing agents to scramble and rebuild security plans on the fly. Those hurried changes routinely mean canceling days off and dropping other commitments.
MS NOW reporter Carol Leonnig, who broke the story, said during a “Deadline: White House” appearance on Wednesday that the agency rarely airs grievances publicly, making the open anger a warning sign. Leonnig framed the tension not as hostility toward a parent, but as reluctance to shoulder routine family logistics at extraordinary taxpayer expense — applauding a father who wants time with his children while noting agents balk at facilitating it via helicopter.
What Vance’s Office and the Secret Service Say
Vice President Vance’s office defended the family and praised the agents protecting them, saying the Vances are grateful to the Secret Service and acknowledging that shielding a vice president with a broad policy portfolio and a young, growing family presents a unique challenge. The office provided no comment or explanation for the second cancellation.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn emphasized the demands built into protective assignments, noting agents accept long hours, frequent travel and constant flexibility, with nights, weekends and holidays part of the job. He said the agency is committed to supporting its personnel while insisting its standards remain non-negotiable, stressing that the safety of protectees depends on unrelenting vigilance.
