Trump’s health secretary resigns in travel flap
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s health secretary resigned Friday, after his costly travel triggered investigations that overshadowed the administration’s agenda and angered his boss. Tom Price’s regrets and partial repayment couldn’t save his job.
The Health and Human Services secretary became the first member of the president’s cabinet to be pushed out in a turbulent young administration that has seen several highranking White House aides ousted. A former congressman from the Atlanta suburbs, Price served eight months.
Publicly, Trump had said he was “not happy” with Price for repeatedly using private charter aircraft for official trips on the taxpayer’s dime, when cheaper commercial flights would have done in many cases.
Privately, Trump has been telling associates in recent days that his health chief had become a distraction. Trump felt that Price was overshadowing his tax overhaul agenda and undermining his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption, according to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Friday the president called Price a “very fine person,” but added, “I certainly don’t like the optics.” Price said in his resignation letter that he regretted that “recent events have created a distraction.”
Price’s repayment of $51,887.31 for his own travel costs did not placate the White House. The total travel cost, including the secretary’s entourage, was unclear. It could amount to several hundred thousand dollars.
An orthopedic surgeon turned politician, Price rose to Budget Committee chair in the House, where he was known as a fiscal conservative.
When Price joined the administration, Trump touted him as a conservative policy expert who could write a new health care bill to replace the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.
But Price became more of a supporting player in the GOP’s futile health care campaign, while Vice-President Mike Pence took the lead. The perception of Price jetting around while GOP lawmakers laboured to repeal “Obamacare” — including a three-nation trip in May to Africa and Europe — raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Price flew on military aircraft overseas.
A Pence protegé, Seema Verma, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Price. Verma leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs health insurance programs that cover more than 130 million Americans.