First Lady Michelle Obama plans to vacation in Aspen, Colorado this Presidents’ Day weekend, separately from her husband, who will land this evening in West Palm Beach for his own down time with the boys.
According to Aspen newspapers, both Michelle and Vice President Biden are expected on the slopes. The White House has not yet announced the trip, and it’s not clear when she will be leaving, though she will presumably go today.
Michelle’s separate excursion from the president means that, even as the government prepares to slash spending as the March 1 sequester approaches, taxpayers will be footing the bill for two separate Obama vacations, paying for items like travel and the expensive security and staff entourages that accompany them everywhere.
What’s more, the Obamas just completed an exorbitant vacation to Hawaii, from which they returned January 6. The president billed taxpayers for two roundtrip tickets on Air Force One – which costs approximately $180,000 an hour to use – after he returned to Washington mid-vacation to deal with the Fiscal Cliff.
Michelle spent the entire 17 days in Hawaii, meaning she’s back on vacation at taxpayer expense just weeks after a resting for more than two weeks in paradise.