PAYING THE PRICE
HHS chief: ‘I’ll write a check’ for flights
With his job on the line, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price apologized on Thursday for using private charter jets at taxpayer expense and said he’d reimburse the government for “my seat.”
But Fox News reported that would cover only $51,887.31 of the estimated $400,000 cost of some two dozen flights by his agency.
“Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes,” Price said in a statement. “The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes . . . It is clear to me in this case I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayers.”
Price also promised to never again use private aircraft on the job.
“No exceptions,” he added for emphasis.
Fox News said the reimbursement would cover only about oneeighth of the total cost of 26 charter flights Price’s agency has authorized since May.
Price’s apology came after he said he still believed he had President Trump’s confidence and would “work through this.”
But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Price’s fate is up in the air.
“As the president said yesterday, he’s not thrilled, certainly not happy with the actions,” she said at her daily press briefing. “We’re definitely looking at the issue. They’re conducting both an internal and an [inspector-general] full review.”
Asked if Price would keep his job, Sanders replied, “We’re gonna conduct a full review and we’ll see what happens” — echoing Trump, who on Wednesday responded to the same question by saying, “We’ll see.”
Meanwhile, Politico reported Thursday night that Price had used a military aircraft for multiple trips overseas, costing taxpay- ers more than $500,000.
Price took his wife with him on the military flights, Politico said, but other members of the delegation flew commercially to Europe. The trips, which also included Africa, bring Price’s total travel bill to more than $1 million.
Democrats had a field day going after Price, unveiling two bills to ban Cabinet members’ private travel.
“We’re here to serve our neighbors back at home, not lavish their hard-earned dollars on personal luxury. If that’s too much to ask, then go home — and fly commercial,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (DOre.), a co-sponsor of the Don’t Incur Meaningless Expenses (Taxpayers DIME) Act.