House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called on the White House Thursday to reimburse taxpayers for President Obama’s recent cross-country trip used to press Congress for action on an expiring interest rate on student loans.
“Frankly, I think this is beneath the dignity of the White House,” Boehner said. “For the President to make a campaign issue out of this and then to travel to three battle ground states and go to three college campuses on taxpayers’ money to try and make this a political issue is pathetic.”
Boehner tagged Obama’s newfound strategy on student loans a “fake fight to try to gain his own reelection.”
“This is the biggest job in the world and I’ve never seen a president make it smaller,” he said. “These political stunts… aren’t worthy of his office.”
President Obama visited college campuses in Colorado, Iowa and North Carolina in the past week pressing Congress to prevent an uptick in student loan interest rates. But Boehner criticized the White House for characterizing the swing state trip as official business.
“It doesn’t even pass the straight face test, are you kidding me?” the Speaker told reporters. “It’s time for the Obama campaign to pony up and reimburse the Treasury.”
