Vice President JD Vance
Vice President JD Vance visits Metallus in Canton on Monday, July 28.
The U.S. Secret Service recently asked to raise the levels of an Ohio river so Vice President JD Vance could go boating.
Vance went out on Little Miami River in southwest Ohio on Aug. 2, when the vice president turned 41, The Guardian first reported. One Reddit post from that day said traffic in Milford was disrupted because of Vance’s excursion.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the statehouse bureau that it temporarily increased outflow from Caesar Creek Lake, which is connected to the river, “to support safe navigation of U.S. Secret Service personnel.” The request “did not require a deviation from normal procedures” or adversely affect water levels, the spokesperson said.
The Secret Service “often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the vice president or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” according to a spokesperson for Vance’s office.
The outflow increase occurred Aug. 1, and stakeholders downstream received advance notice, according to the Army Corps.
A Secret Service spokesperson said it “conducted operational planning to ensure that motorized watercraft and emergency personnel could operate safely with appropriate water levels during a recent visit.”
The spokesperson also thanked the Army Corps and Ohio Department of Natural Resources “for providing a safe and secure environment for our personnel and law enforcement partners.”
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, called on the Army Corps to share records of the Secret Service request with Congress.
“Outrageous!” Kaptur posted on X. “Must be why he wasn’t available to meet about his Big Bonanza for Billionaires Bill which will devastate Ohio manufacturing jobs and our rural hospitals.”
(This story was updated with additional information and to add a photo gallery.)
State government reporter Haley BeMiller can be reached at hbemiller@gannett.com or @haleybemiller on X.
