White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that he believed the annual Easter Egg Roll event on the White House lawn would continue, despite sequestration cuts to the administration's budget and rumors the event would be canceled.
"I would refer both to the East Wing and the Secret Service, but it's my understanding that as of now, the decision has been made that the Easter Egg Roll will go forward," Carney said.
On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced it was canceling tours of the White House indefinitely due to "staffing reductions resulting from sequestration."
Asked why the Easter Egg Roll would continue when tours had been canceled, Carney characterized the decision as similar to "choices you make all the time" about budget issues.
"This is about trade-offs. Because when you have the kind of severe cuts that the sequester represents, you have to reduce your budget accordingly. And then you have to make choices about what you do and what you don't," Carney said.
Earlier in his briefing with reporters, Carney defended the decision to cancel the tours, saying it was emblematic of the tough decisions forced by the sequester.
"The president and the first lady have, throughout the time that they've been here, made extraordinary efforts to make this the people's house," Carney said. "And it is extremely unfortunate that we have a situation like a sequester that compels the kinds of trade-offs and decisions that this represents."
The White House announced the ticket lottery for the annual event last month in an online video featuring President Obama and Robby Novak, the 9-year-old star of the popular "Kid President" online videos.
