Vice President JD Vance’s kayaking trip to celebrate his 41st birthday sparked outrage among liberals after the Secret Service temporarily raised water levels on Ohio’s Little Miami River for security reasons.
Officials said the adjustment was a routine safety measure to ensure emergency access.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers briefly raised water flow from Caesar Creek Lake into the Little Miami River last week.
This adjustment allowed emergency personnel and motorized boats to better navigate the river while protecting the vice president during his family outing near his Cincinnati-area home.
Army Corps spokesman Eugene Pawlik confirmed the increase was minimal and temporary.
“It was determined that the operations would not adversely affect downstream or upstream water levels,” Pawlik said.
He added that affected stakeholders had been notified ahead of time.
The vice president’s office stated that Vance was unaware of the water-level change.
“The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” a spokesperson said.
The story, first reported by The Guardian and subsequently picked up by other left-leaning news outlets, drew criticism from liberal lawmakers and watchdog groups.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) called the move “outrageous,” suggesting it represented a misuse of taxpayer funds and hindered Vance’s availability to address legislative matters.
“Must be why he wasn’t available to meet about his Big Bonanza for Billionaires Bill, which threatens Ohio manufacturing jobs and rural hospitals,” Kaptur said in a social media post.
She also urged the Army Corps of Engineers to provide records related to the adjustment to congressional oversight committees.
Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel for President George W. Bush, echoed concerns about government spending.
“It’s outrageous for the Army Corps of Engineers to spend taxpayer money to increase water flow in a river so [Vance] can go canoeing when budget cuts to the National Park Service have severely impacted family vacations for everyone else,” Painter tweeted.
Conservative voices responded by downplaying the criticism as politically motivated.
Benny Johnson, a conservative commentator, dismissed the backlash on X as “incredibly dumb.”
“This shows how desperate libs are to find something on JD Vance,” he wrote. “The Secret Service said they raised the water level without asking @VP, so they could use motor boats in case of an emergency. You can kayak in a couple inches of water, morons.”
Others noted that such safety-related water-level adjustments are common.
“The Secret Service would do this for anyone of any party,” one user commented.
Another explained, “Outflows from Caesar Creek Lake are occasionally adjusted to support community events like river festivals, boating regattas, and recreation days to facilitate safer navigation and better conditions, as well as for emergency responder training exercises.”
The Little Miami River is a popular tributary near Vance’s home, The Washington Examiner reports.
The timing of the adjustment coincided with ongoing federal spending debates led by the Trump administration, adding a political dimension to the criticism.
This controversy echoes a similar event from 1999 when then-Vice President Al Gore’s security team arranged the release of 4 billion gallons of water into New Hampshire’s Connecticut River ahead of a canoeing trip.
The release occurred during drought conditions and drew criticism from state environmental officials.
John Kassel, then-director of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, said, “They won’t release the water for the fish when we ask them to, but somehow they find themselves able to release it for a politician.”
Gore’s team maintained that he was unaware of the security preparations. His canoeing trip drew attention given his environmental record.
In both cases, the Secret Service emphasized that river flow adjustments were made solely to ensure the safety of the nation’s second-highest elected official.
The post Vance’s B-Day Kayaking Trip Draws Liberal Criticism Over Secret Service’s Temporary River Water Adjustment appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Gloriel Howard
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