Report: Biden, officials used National Park cabin for cheap vacations

Vice President Biden and other members of the Obama Cabinet each spent vacation time at a government-owned log cabin in Wyoming where they were charged a low rate, a Time report charges.

Time learned that Biden spent four vacation nights at the Brinkerhoff Lodge, part of the Grand Teton National Park. He had no public events on the schedule and spent those four days with his wife and 11 other family members.

{mosads}The National Park Service restricts the cabin to “official purposes,” but Time found that the agency expanded that definition to allow for vacations as long as some official business is involved. In some cases, the “official business” only included a briefing from park staff or a few local events.

When friends or family accompany an official on a trip, their travel costs are not supposed to be covered by the government. After Time questioned the vice president’s office about the trips, his staff said Biden planned to personally pay $1,200 for “renting the Brinkerhoff.” 

“In light of inconsistencies in billing practices and ambiguity in the policy at the park, the Interior Department has directed the National Park Service to conduct an immediate review of compliance with the policy and related recordkeeping and to seek reimbursement, where appropriate, for use of the Brinkerhoff,” National Park Service spokeswoman April Slayton said in an email to Time.

Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, former Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar and current Education Secretary Arne Duncan all took trips to the lodge with friends or family since 2011.

The Park Service has no record of any payments for the trips outside of a $150 check from Salazar. The Time report quotes officials from various agencies who say there was confusion over what each official owed the park for their stay.

A Biden representative told Time that he’ll pay the $1,200 based on the local rate for a hotel room and $10 for each additional family member, as per General Services Administration regulations. But the price of a single hotel room could vary greatly from a four-bedroom cabin near the scenic lake.