Obama Open to Reopening White House to Tours

Blamed sequester when cancelling the tours, which cost much less than other government waste

In the face of a public outcry, President Obama opened the door in an interview broadcast Wednesday to resuming White House tours -- after they were suspended in a decision purportedly meant to save the Secret Service money while it deals with sequester cuts. 

The decision, announced earlier this month, was decried by Republican lawmakers as over-the-top and unnecessary. School groups and others who had planned to visit the White House got disappointing news when the tours ceased this past Saturday -- a group of sixth graders in Iowa even took to Facebook to vent their frustrations in a widely viewed web video.