GOP blasts Pelosi’s request for military jet

WASHINGTON – Republicans on Wednesday assailed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s request for access to an Air Force transport plane as excessive, though former Speaker Dennis Hastert flew in a military jet as well.

Republicans are taking issue with the size of the plane Pelosi has requested. Pelosi had asked for access to a C-32 plane, a military version of the Boeing 757-200.

A Defense Department spokesman said Wednesday that the Pentagon informed Pelosi’s staff that she would be provided with a plane but that its size would be based on availability.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the House speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips home.

Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-size jet. Pelosi and her aides say that because her congressional district is in California, her security would require a larger plane that can fly coast to coast without refueling.

“It’s not a question of size, it’s a question of distance,” Pelosi said. “We want an aircraft that can reach California.”

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said Wednesday that Pelosi would be offered “shuttle service for no more than 10 passengers between Washington and San Francisco only based on aircraft availability.”

Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, the No. 3 Republican leader, said he supported the tradition of House speakers having access to secure airplanes with secure communications in the post-Sept. 11 era. But he called Pelosi’s desire for a large transport “an extravagance of power that the taxpayers won’t swallow.”