Path to the Presidency

You are here:  Home / UPI Features - Path to the Presidency / Cost for protecting Obama's home: $2.2 mil

Cost for protecting Obama's home: $2.2 mil

Published: July 21, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Order reprints  |  Print Story  |  Email to a Friend  |  Post a Comment
Share
Related Stories
CHICAGO, July 21 (UPI) -- Chicago police have spent at least $2.2 million to secure President Barack Obama's Windy City residence since he was elected, city documents indicate.

The federal government will reimburse the city for more than $1.5 million of the costs, but the city said nearly $650,000 -- the cost of protecting Obama's home since his inauguration through April -- is not scheduled currently to be paid back, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

"There is no reimbursement mechanism currently in place for this (post-inauguration) money," the city's Office of Legal Affairs said in the written response to the newspaper Freedom of Information Act request.

Darrin Blackford, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, said the protection agency wasn't "equipped or funded" to provide reimbursement.

"We rely heavily on the assistance we receive from our law enforcement partners," Blackford told the Tribune.



© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Slideshow
1 of 54
Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States
Barack Obama takes the oath of office from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to become the 44th President of the United States on the west steps of the Capitol on January 20, 2009. Holding the bible is his wife Michelle with their daughters Malia and Sasha. (UPI Photo/Pat Benic) | Slideshow