Partly because it's the PEOPLE'S house, and the cost of keeping the White House open for tours is utterly insignificant in the US federal budget.
The cost of allowing us commoners into the White House is almost exactly ONE ONE-MILLIONTH of what the federal government is spending.
Or, to put it another way: You're a family with $50,000 a year in income. You're over budget. You need to stop spending so much.
The cost of keeping the White House open to the People, on the scale of a family budget of $50,000 a year, is a nickel PER YEAR. Five lousy cents.
I'm all for saving money. BELIEVE me, I'm all for saving money. REAL money.
But there are REAL places to do it, and REAL amounts to save. Not shutting down the White House and making the People suffer, and slimily trying to blame it on Republicans and conservatives.
Good talking point, too...$50K vs. a nickel...