Travel costs for Cabinet at center of controversy

White House wrestles with officials’ use of military and charter flights, taxpayer cash

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, one of the wealthiest in modern U.S. history, is facing widening criticism over travel expenditures among some of the billionaires, budget hawks and business executives who head federal agencies.

Inspectors general have opened at least five investigations into charter or military flights by Cabinet officials amounting to millions in federal spending. Their decisions to veer away from cheaper commercial flights have led to criticism from Democrats in Congress and government accountability groups about a culture of entitlement in Trump’s administration.

New examples of questioned expenditures include Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who on Friday turned over his travel records under pressure from House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and the panel’s top Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces an expanding investigation into his travel by private jet.

The drumbeat of controversy over Cabinet travel threatens to undermine a core pillar of Trump’s relationship with his base — his promise to “drain

the swamp” of elite Washington, D.C., rein in waste and represent the working class.

Veterans Affairs head David Shulkin last week backed out of a congressional trip to Europe, The Washington Post learned, after criticism about another international outing, which combined official travel with sightseeing and a Wimbledon tennis event. And Interior Department Chief Ryan Zinke faced new criticism about his travel — often accompanied by his wife, who is managing a Republican campaign in Montana — which included stops at political fundraisers and donor events.

Adding to the costs are travel accommodations for Cabinet aides, invited guests and security details, who accompany secretaries on all trips. Thus far, officials have assumed no financial responsibility for passengers on their flights. Tom Price, a wealthy Georgia physician who resigned at the end of last month as secretary of health and human services, ran up charter costs of more than $500,000 but pledged a $51,887 check to reimburse the government for his seats. An health and human services spokesperson told The Post that Price “was under no obligation” to pay but that this was “him wanting to make a gesture.”

Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, who traveled with Price several times, is unlikely to repay the government for her travel cost, the White House said, because she was a guest.

To deal with fallout, the White House has imposed a new approval process for charter jet travel by nonnational-security Cabinet members. The protocol will be supervised by Chief of Staff John Kelly.

White House approval for military flights, which have long required special permission, came under question when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ran up at least $800,000 on such trips, including a flight with his wife to visit the nation’s gold stash at Fort Knox. A report last week by the Treasury watchdog said the flights were legal based on Mnuchin’s schedule and need for secure communications, but poorly justified.

White House spokesman Raj Shah on Friday called the use of military planes for Cabinet and other essential travelers “sometimes an appropriate and necessary use of resources.” One indicator of how the administration has tried to curb expenditures, he said, is the sharp reduction of what are known as military air White House support missions — travel the president must request.

The White House said Trump officials took 77 military flights through Sept. 19, compared with 94 flights taken during the first eight months of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Some government accountability groups argue that the Cabinet behavior reflects the president’s own disconnect with government frugality, evidenced by his weekend trips to his private golf clubs and Mar-a-Lago, as well as the costly travels by Trump family members that must be monitored by government employees and Secret Service agents.

“The tone is set at the top,” said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group that recently called for an investigation into Trump appointees’ travel. “When you have a president who is visiting his private resorts every weekend at great cost to taxpayers, it is not surprising that Cabinet members are using private jets to get to standard meetings.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has defended Trump’s trips as decision-making tools.

“Every weekend that he’s traveling, no matter where he is, the president is working,” Sanders said Thursday. “This is a president that is committed to helping move his agenda forward. And certainly I think that those weekends have been very successful in doing that.”

Cabinet leaders have historically been background players, pushing their boss’ agenda. Trump’s appointees have joined in his vow to control spending by imposing employee travel restrictions, cutting programs and leaving positions open.

But in their own travel, many have swapped the cramped cabins of commercial airplanes for private jets, or have traveled across Denmark, France, Italy and the Caribbean while mixing official duties with vacations and political events.

Air travel costs for Mnuchin, a millionaire former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood financier, included eight approved military flights this year to destinations such as Italy, West Virginia and Kentucky, according to documents released Thursday by Treasury’s inspector general.

Perry has taken six trips on government or private planes, mostly to visit national labs in Washington state, Idaho and New Mexico; nuclear sites in Ohio and Kansas City; and a Pennsylvania coal plant. While the estimated $56,000 in trips all received ethics approval, many of the destinations are served by less-expensive commercial airlines. It is unclear whether Perry’s schedule could accommodate commercial travel.

Zinke, a former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL commander, flew for official business but spoke in Las Vegas, Nev., to a campaign donor’s hockey team, spent a few weekends near his homes out West and attended political fundraisers from Montana to the Virgin Islands. His wife, Lola, often accompanied him on the trips.

An Interior spokesman said the department “has always and will always work to ensure all officials follow appropriate rules and regulations when traveling.”