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It’s every entry-level staffer’s dream when they land a White House gig to accompany the president on a trip aboard Air Force One.

There are lots of perks. You don’t have to take your shoes off before boarding. The seats are much more spacious than anything you’ll find in economy class. There are custom boxes of presidential M&Ms. And there’s even in-flight meal service.

But, it turns out, those meals come at a price. Everyone on board — including White House staff traveling on official business — must personally cover the cost of them.

The price of food on Air Force One varies depending on the length of the flight and what’s served. One former Biden staffer estimated that a day trip could run anywhere from $17 to $50 in food and drink, and that’s not including additional snacks or special dietary requests like vegetarian options. (OMAROSA MANIGAULT, a former Trump White House aide, recalled on an episode of “Celebrity Big Brother” that she was once billed $23 just for snacking.)

For higher-paid White House staffers, covering the occasional cost of an Air Force One meal isn’t too burdensome. But the meal charges are a widespread source of annoyance for many of the younger staffers, especially lower-paid press assistants (also known as “wranglers”) whose jobs require them to frequently travel with the president.

There’s no real way to avoid the charge. Staffers don’t know ahead of time what will be served or how much it will cost. And there isn’t a system in place to let aides opt-out of in-flight meal fees and bring their own food.

“Sometimes it’s a Philly cheesesteak, which is fine. Other times it’s, like, a filet mignon, which is going to be a little bit more,” said one former staffer, who learned that meal fees could quickly run into the hundreds of dollars.

Days after a flight, the military, which operates Air Force One, sends staffers an invoice totaling up the charges and directing them to a payment portal. Some staffers set up autopay to make things easier. But those who don’t pay immediately will get follow-up emails reminding them, in increasingly stern tones, that traveling on Air Force One is a privilege, not a right — and they had better settle up.

The travel-heavy lead-up to the midterms can be particularly pricey for some aides who fly from state to state with little sense of how much each meal will ultimately cost.

A second former staffer who frequently traveled on Air Force One said that aides described the midterms as “YOLO mode” for their finances, since there was no avoiding racking up hefty bills while on the road for days at a time.

“It didn’t really matter what the cost was going to be, because it was our assignment,” said the former staffer, who estimated that heavy travelers could end up on the hook for roughly $1,000 a year in meals. “It’s really hard to pay off on any junior staffer’s salary.”

ARUN CHAUDHARY, who traveled frequently on Air Force One from 2009 to 2011 as President BARACK OBAMA’s videographer, said requiring staff to pay for their meals during work travel was “deeply unfair” and “a bit cruel.”

“It’s this huge honor to work at the White House and people know it and they treat you like you should know it. But it’s sad because it takes advantage of young, idealistic people who aren’t going to complain or organize their workplace,” he said. “It also emphasizes this idea that a White House job is like a campaign job. It’s this churn and burn.”

Many entry-level staffers said that as part of the onboarding process, White House officials did not fully explain to them that they’d have to account for Air Force One meals in their personal budgets. Meal procedures are outlined in one of the various documents aides received. But many discovered the Air Force One meal tabs only after they were hit with it.

“The first couple times it was confusing, because I didn’t ask to go to Ohio,” the first former staffer quipped. “And they’re charging me for the sandwich that I ate.”

The second former staffer said that despite the financial pain, the meals were “truly incredible.”

“They’re so great. Just wish there was a little more clarity with all of it,” they said.

We at West Wing Playbook hope that everyone on today’s Air Force One trip to North Carolina felt like today’s meals (chicken soup, cornbread, southwest caesar salad and strawberry cake for lunch; spinach artichoke dip with chips and veggies for an afternoon snack) were worth the money.

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With help from the White House HIstorical Association

Before there was U.S. Air Force One, there was U.S. Train Car Number One, an armored train car with bulletproof windows. Which president was the first to use this special mode of transportation?

(Answer at bottom.)

SENSING SOME TENSION…: House Speaker KEVIN MCCARTHY told President JOE BIDEN he’s “on the clock,” telling him to set a meeting over the debt ceiling, our JENNIFER SCHOLTES reports for Congress Minutes. The White House responded by saying the president is open to discussing the “nation’s fiscal future,” but not as a condition of raising the debt limit. “It’s time for Republicans to stop playing games, pass a clean debt ceiling bill, and quit threatening our economic recovery,” White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said in a statement.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by AP’s AAMER MADHANI highlighting Biden’s visit Tuesday to North Carolina, where he continues “an extended effort to spotlight the impact legislation passed earlier in his administration is having on the U.S. economy and contrast his vision with that of Republicans as they square off on budget priorities.” Several administration officials tweeted out the piece Tuesday morning.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: That the baby-formula industry remains “as vulnerable to safety problems and supply disruptions as it did more than a year ago, when a recall led to nationwide shortages,” according to FRANK YIANNAS, a former FDA official. “The nation remains one outbreak, tornado, flood, or cyberattack away from finding itself in a similar place to that of February 17, 2022,” Yiannas said in his prepared remarks to lawmakers Tuesday. WSJ’s KRISTINA PETERSON has more.

A WORD FROM THE FIRST DAUGHTER: ASHLEY BIDEN, the president and first lady’s only daughter, has tried to keep a low profile, according to an interview she has done in a national magazine. Biden told Elle Magazine that she “never wanted to be in the public eye. … It’s not like I’m going to go and become a movie star. But I think that I kind of have an obligation in this position, if I can, to amplify the issues and to talk about what truly, truly works.”

A detail that stood out to us: As a child, her parents “thought she would be an entrepreneur. ‘They were always like, “Oh, you want that? You’ve got to do chores and make some money to get it,”’ Ashley remembers. ‘So I used to go to the beach and collect seashells and paint them and go door-to-door selling them as soap dishes.’” Read the rest of the interview here.

AUSTIN ON THE OFFENSE: Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN spoke out against Republican Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE’s blockade of 160 senior military promotions over the Pentagon’s new abortion policies in a hearing Tuesday, saying the delay could affect national security matters.

Though Austin didn’t specifically name the Alabama lawmaker, he said that “not approving the recommendations for promotions actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be.” Our CONNOR O’BRIEN has more.

HITTING A HARD STOP: Despite the 51-seat majority Democrats hold in the Senate, Biden’s nominees are struggling in the confirmation process, as evidenced recently by PHIL WASHINGTON’s withdrawal to lead the Federal Aviation Administration after months of stagnation. GIGI SOHN also recently withdrew her nomination to serve on the Federal Communications Commission.

Our BURGESS EVERETT, DANIELLA DIAZ and DANIEL LIPPMAN report that more turbulence is ahead for other Biden nominees as drama ensues in the chamber — with JULIE SU, Biden’s pick to lead the Labor Department, and MICHAEL DELANEY, a judicial nominee, already facing public criticism.

PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA?: “The U.S. has stopped sharing information about its strategic nuclear stockpile with Russia in response to Moscow’s decision last month to suspend its participation in a treaty that limits the deployment of atomic warheads,” our PAUL MCLEARY reports. The U.S.’s decision was relayed to Russia on Monday.

FIGHTING ALL SIDES: The White House is “fighting a Democratic-led effort to make abortion pills more accessible even as it simultaneously opposes a GOP-led effort to ban the drugs nationwide,” our ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN reports. Lawyers representing the FDA are defending the agency’s authority to place restrictions on mifepristone, typically used to end a pregnancy during the first 10 weeks, but several Democratic attorneys general are fighting back, calling those restrictions “burdensome for both patients and doctors.”

THE BOOK WARS: American Federation of Teachers President RANDI WEINGARTEN, an ally of the Biden administration, spoke out about the growing effort to ban certain books in schools, telling the National Press Club the movement is only “fueling hostility and fear.” Weingarten’s remarks echo the sentiment from Biden administration officials who are also pushing back on the GOP’s efforts, NBC News’ MIKE MEMOLI and CAROL E. LEE report.

Joe Biden attacks Republicans for positions he once held about Social Security (CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck)

At least 39 dead in a fire at a migrant center in Mexico near the U.S. border (NBC News’ Nicole Acevedo, Mithil Aggarwal and Kurt Chirbas)

Opinion: Joe Biden’s aspirational defense budget (Elaine Mccusker for The Hill)

On December 18, 1942, President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT was presented with a refurbished train car to accommodate his security needs during World War II while traveling. The 84-foot long car was dubbed “U.S. Car No. 1” but operated under the code name POTUS.

Learn more about the life and challenges Roosevelt faced in the new White House 1600 Sessions podcast, “Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President.”

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.