Health Secretary Tom Price Forced to Resign over Private Plane Use

Health Secretary Tom Price has been forced to resign after using expensive private planes for official business.

Tom Price previously apologized after making 26 private flights since May at a cost of $400,000 to taxpayers.

Government officials, except those dealing with national security matters, are required to take commercial flights for work related travel.

Three other members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are under scrutiny for using private planes while on the job. According to Politico and the Washington Post, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke flew from Las Vegas to Montana last June on a private jet that cost taxpayers more than $12,000. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is accused of flying with his wife to view last month’s solar eclipse. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt has spent more than $58,000 on non-commercial travel.

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A White House statement said President Trump had accepted Tom Price’s resignation, adding that Don J. Wright had been designated as acting health secretary.

An investigation by the political news website Politico found that Tom Price’s travels had cost more than $1 million.

As well as the $400,000 for private flights, that figure includes the cost of military aircraft used for Tom Price’s trips abroad, Politico added.

President Trump had earlier said he was “not happy” with the expense.

Hours before Tom Price’s resignation, President Trump told White House reporters: “He’s a very fine man. We’re going to make a decision sometime tonight. He’s a very, very fine man.”