"Bo," the first family's Portuguese water dog, will continue to have his own motorcade for trips to the local Pet Smart store, despite the administration's sequester-related decision to cut back on other things like cancelling White House tours, Fox News reports.
Though it is unclear how much the motorcade will cost taxpayers, Bo's personal part-time handler makes slightly more than $100,000 a year, according to the
Independent Journal Review.
The news comes days after a class of Iowa sixth-graders sent a video to the White House pleading for President Barack Obama to reinstate the tours. The teens were scheduled to take a tour a week after the sequester deal was sealed, but their visit was cancelled.
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In the video, which was posted last Wednesday to the school's Facebook page, the children hold up signs that say "The White House is our house. Please let us visit."
The president has been widely criticized for sequester-related cuts in recent weeks and has received a lot of flak in particular for cancelling the tours.
Polls indicate that Obama's approval rating has dropped due to how the administration handled the sequester.
In the poll, 43 percent of people approve of Obama's handling of his job, down 7 percentage points from Feb. 19.
Bo's motorcade isn’t the only controversial program the administration has decided to keep, despite cuts in other areas.
The White House also has three calligraphers, who collectively earn $277,000 each year, Fox News reports.
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According to Fox, the National Park's annual budget for the White House's visitor center is just north of $9 million, which it says is equivalent to the cost of operating Air Force One for just 51 hours.
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