What's Obama Thinking

Top Obama advisers Jarrett and Axelrod given car privileges traditionally reserved for national security officials

Those who get it automatically include the president and vice president, cabinet members and their deputies, the national security adviser and the White House chief of staff.

There are some distinctions. The president, the vice president, the treasury secretary, the secretary of homeland security, the national security adviser and the chief of staff all get Secret Service protection, so their cars are driven by service agents.

The secretary of defense and secretary of state have their own security apparatus, who ferry them around town. The rest of the cabinet and their deputies get “portal to portal” cars driven by military aides from the White House motor pool.

In addition to all these, President George W. Bush designated the deputy national security adviser and his homeland security adviser to receive “portal to portal” privileges as well, Joe Hagin, who was Bush’s deputy chief of staff for operations, said.

On Aug. 16, 2007, Bush added Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, his “war czar” for Iraq and Afghanistan, to the list of those on the “portal to portal” list, according to a copy of a letter sent by Alan Swendiman, special assistant to Bush in the office of administration, to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

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