President Obama and his spokesman, Jay Carney, on Wednesday offered a pair of contradictory explanations for the closure of White House tours ahead of automatic budget cuts now in effect known as sequestration.
“We had to cancel the tours. It’s our job to cancel the tours,” Carney said at a press breifing, explaining that the White House made the decision because the Secret Service was unable to staff them due to furloughs of some employees.
In an interview with ABC News aired earlier on Wednesday, however, Obama said that the Secret Service had ultimately made the final call.
“This was not a decision that went up to the White House,” he said.
Obama told ABC News that tours may yet resume for students, pending a review by the Secret Service.
