Boehner to suspend military flights for congressional trips

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will suspend the use of military aircraft for official travel by House members if sequestration kicks in, a GOP House leadership aide said Wednesday.

The move would likely curb many of the overseas trips lawmakers take, known as codels, if the across-the-board cuts take effect on Friday.

“The Speaker believes this is the prudent and responsible course of action, and it goes above and beyond the spending cuts the House will be implementing to comply with the president’s sequester,” the aide said.

Congressional offices will also have to cut their budgets under sequestration, and the cuts for military flights are being made in addition to those reductions.

Lawmakers would still be able to take codels by using commercial travel.

Boehner’s move is somewhat similar to what Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) on Tuesday urged the speaker to do. Jones wrote Boehner asking him to ban federally funded overseas trips unless they are visiting U.S. troops in a war zone. 

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