Secret Service request to raise river level for vice president's walk sparks row

The Secret Service's request to raise the river level was made "without the knowledge" of Vice President J.D. Vance, his office says. The decision to change the Ohio River level "was made solely by agents," the security agency said in a statement.

A spokesman for J.D. Vance said the vice president and his staff were unaware that the Secret Service had decided earlier this month to ask Army engineers to raise the water level of the Little Miami River ahead of a family boat ride on his birthday.

"The Secret Service often takes protective measures without the knowledge of the vice president or his staff, as it did last weekend," the spokesman said.

The announcement followed a Guardian report on Wednesday that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Louisville, Kentucky, had been asked by the Secret Service to raise the lake's water level to accommodate Vance's boating excursion, The Guardian reported. USACE said on Wednesday that the decision was made to "support the safe navigation" of Vance's security personnel.

The Secret Service provided additional information on Thursday, stressing in a “revised” statement to the Guardian that the vice president’s office “was not involved in the decision” and that it was “operationally necessary” to adjust water levels to accommodate motorized watercraft, local law enforcement and first responders.

“These decisions were made solely by agents as part of our standard pre-planning process and did not involve the Office of the Vice President,” the Secret Service said in a statement. It also claimed that a public safety vessel ran aground during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Secret Service before the trip, prompting the Secret Service to make the decision to raise the water level.

Vance's office did not initially respond to a Guardian inquiry about the change in water levels due to his boating excursion. But the Guardian's publication of the story has caused some controversy.

Marcy Kaptur, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio, tweeted demanding more information about USACE's actions, saying, "Outrageous! This must be why he couldn't make it to the meeting about his Billionaires' Bonanza bill that will kill manufacturing jobs in Ohio and our rural hospitals. The Army Corps of Engineers needs to provide reports to the appropriate congressional committee."

The news also drew comparisons to an embarrassing episode involving another vice president, Al Gore, who came under scrutiny in 1999 after a local utility company dumped millions of gallons of water into the Connecticut River to keep him from running aground during a canoe trip.

It is not unusual for USACE to modify outfalls for public use, such as to host public river events and train emergency response personnel, The Guardian notes.

USACE regulations regarding requests for so-called “variances,” or any changes to normal practices, require approval and documentation to support the justification for the variance. This process also ensures that the risks associated with any variance, including flood risk or other environmental impacts, are described in detail.

In a statement Wednesday, USACE said the Secret Service's request "met the operational criteria outlined in the Lake Water Control Manual and did not require a deviation from normal procedures."