(TheRedWire.com) – Since former President Donald Trump left office on Wednesday, January 20, he’s been unusually quiet. However, in his farewell address and final public speech as president, he promised to be back “in some form.” Since then, the media and political pundits have speculated on what he meant. On Tuesday, January 26, Trump released a statement announcing the “Office of the Former President.”
Former President Donald Trump has officially opened the 'Office of the Former President,' which will manage his correspondence, public statements, and activities to "carry on the agenda of the Trump Admin. through advocacy…" pic.twitter.com/jCyPccOntw
— Aaron Parseghian (@AaronParseghian) January 25, 2021
While the title isn’t official or government-sanctioned and has no decision-making capacity, it makes for spectacular press. The Former Presidents Act of 1958 allows funding through the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish, furnish, and staff an official office for each former president anywhere in the United States. For the fiscal year 2018, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each billed the treasury $440,000 for office spaces. To this point, they are the most expensive offices among the living presidents.
Former presidents aren’t able to go back to their former lives. It’s an unwritten rule that they must continue to represent the United States abroad. They can’t go anywhere alone and receive a Secret Service detail for the remainder of their lives, never traveling on public roads again. Their offices support retirement duties, coordinate schedules, and fulfill presidential document requests until each former president establishes a presidential library.
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