The expenses cover security, flights and accommodation for staff but do not include the price of prepositioning military assets in areas where a US President is residing.
Records obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act request show that representatives of the Secret Service arrived two days before the First Family. Although the annual trip to Hawaii, Obama's birthplace, officially lasted 17 days, from December 18, 2015, to January 3, 2016, the Secret Service accommodation bill was for 19 nights, beginning December 16. That's where most of the money, approximately $1 million, went.
The agency also paid $165,893.88 for an eye-opening 103 cars rented from Avis, Alamo, and Hertz, among other expenses. Air and rail expenses totaled $67,964.16.
"Unnecessary presidential travel for fundraising and luxury vacations on the taxpayers' dime would be a good target for reform for the incoming Trump administration," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement obtained by LawNewz.com.
The reported $85 million is not a final number, as current estimates do not include Obama family expenses for this year's Christmas vacation.