HHS Secretary has spent $300,000 using private planes
Since early May, HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, has taken at least 24 flights on private charter planes at the agency’s expense, racking up more than $300,000 in costs, according to POLITICO.
His two predecessors used commercial flights while traveling in the continental United States, and HHS has said Price only flies on private planes when commercial travel isn’t feasible. POLITICO’s story said this justification didn’t hold up—in one example, Price took a charter flight from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia at the cost of $25,000, when a commercial flight would’ve cost between $447 to $725 per person. Other options included taking an Amtrak train, which would’ve cost $72, or making the 2 ½ hour drive between the cities, with the round trip costing about $60 in gasoline and $32 in tolls.
“This shows a complete disregard for the expense to the taxpayer,” said Walter Shaub, who the director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, appointed by Barack Obama, until July.
Now Price is facing calls for an investigation into his travel expenses by congressional Democrats.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.