Ever since 1829, when President Jackson became the nation’s first chief executive to invite the public into the White House to celebrate his first inauguration, Americans have regarded the gracefully columned mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue as their house, too. Recent visitors are much better behaved than in Jackson’s day, when people stood on upholstered chairs in muddy boots to catch a glimpse of the president. But that just makes getting locked out of the White House all the more painful.

And unnecessary. Federal agencies waste much more every day than the $74,000 the Secret Service spends weekly to supervise visitors on a self-guided tour of the White House’s public rooms. And as Judicial Watch has reported, first lady Michelle Obama spent the equivalent of six weeks of White House tours on a single taxpayer-paid vacation to Spain in August 2010.