It cost taxpayers millions to send Obama to Kenya

President Obama’s flight to Kenya and Ethiopia cost U.S. taxpayers $6 million, according to an analysis of the president’s prolific globe-trotting. But the total cost of the trip is much higher.

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation analysis “Still Up in the Air: The Uncertain Costs of Presidential Travel Abroad” said that Air Force One logged a total flight time of 29 hours during the president’s trip to Africa.

The Air Force says it costs about $206,337 to keep the presidential plane in the sky for one hour, meaning Obama’s flight from Joint Base Andrews to Nairobi, then to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and home cost taxpayers $5,983,773.

The final travel figure, however, is probably much higher, according to National Taxpayers Union’s Douglas Kellogg.

“The additional costs associated with … travels in these particular regions of Africa are likely to be quite high. Recent terrorist activities will certainly have security at a premium. What’s more, it’s not just President Obama they’ll be watching out for, but 20 Members of Congress who are along for the ride,” he said.

The report notes that Robert Rotberg of the Woodrow Wilson International Center estimated that just the security detail required to protect President Obama in Kenya cost roughly $60 million.

For perspective, the report notes:

During President Bill Clinton’s 11-day trip to Africa in 1998, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that C-5 cargo planes flew a total of 1,975.6 flight hours at an hourly rate of $12,605 for an aggregate cost of just under $25 million to carry supplies needed for the trip. As of April 2013, the cost per flight hour for the C-5B Galaxy cargo plane stood at $78,817.

In addition, costs for accommodating the hundreds of support staff that accompany during presidential travels are unknown for the Africa trip.

According to the taxpayer watchdog, Obama’s latest trip ties him with Clinton for most international travels will in office.

From the analysis:

In 2013, the last time NTUF published a major update of Presidential travel data, we found that President Obama had spent more time overseas than almost any other president during his first four years in office: the 95 days he spent abroad were second only to George H.W. Bush’s 102.[1] Since then, Obama’s travel pace has slowed, but among recent two-term Presidents he still ranks second in terms of number of days spent abroad.

Although President Obama is tied with Bill Clinton for the most trips taken through July of his seventh year in office, his trips tend to be shorter than other presidents’. On average, President Obama’s trips have lasted about 3.9 days each, while George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan have spent 4.1, 4.3, and 4.8 days, respectively. This is a trend that we also observed in our previous update.

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation urges more transparency from the federal government on the cost of presidential travel so that taxpayers have an opportunity for “public debate on the costs and benefits of international travel.”

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