Maybe they screwed up giving Hastert a plane. Since he didn't live so far away, they were able to let him use a small plane that wasn't in big demand and didn't cost too much.
Now Pelosi wants a plane that can go cross-country, and there are only a few of those stationed at Andrews, and they are in high demand. They would take over a hundred people, and cost a lot of money.
The Government has a 2.9 trillion dollar budget. Why doesn't the house of representatives simply vote into the defense budget the purchase of a plane for the House Speaker to use, and then request a security detail for the trips?
I'm guessing they don't want to take the heat for the expense.
>a small plane that wasn't in big demand and didn't cost too much.<
At $4,250 per hour that works out to about $25,000 for a round trip. If she goes home on the weekend, that's roughly 100K per month.