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.