The Secret Service spent nearly $7,500 on golf cart rentals while President Trump was in at his private golf club Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving.
According to federal purchase orders flagged by progressive PAC American Bridge and reviewed by USA TODAY, the agency charged with protecting the president spent $7,470 on the rentals for Trump’s Florida golf outings.
Per pool reports, the president visited the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach four times last week and the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter once.
The Secret Service signed a contract with the Florida cart rental company, Golf Cart & Utility Distributors, back in September. However, the latest Thanksgiving golf trips increased the total contract amount to $69,430.
That contract, which lasts through May 2018, is the biggest purchase order the agency has made for golf carts since February, shortly after Trump took office.
In total, since Trump was inaugurated, the Secret Service has spent at least $144,975 on golf cart rentals alone. Trump frequently travels to golf courses he owns not just in Florida but in Bedminster, N.J., and Sterling, Va.
Trump’s travels and large family size have place a strain on the agency. In August, USA TODAY first reported that the Secret Service could no longer pay the overtime for hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission — in large part due to the sheer size of Trump’s family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast.
Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year.
Lawmakers introduced a bill to provide agents with overtime pay, but there has been no action on the legislation since September.