The White House’s travel headache is growing with new revelations about top officials’ use of military aircraft.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, whose use of taxpayer-funded private jets drew the ire of President Donald Trump, now faces scrutiny for using military jets that reportedly put his total travel tab above $1 million.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is also drawing attention, as a report said he took private or military planes at least four times, costing taxpayers more than $58,000.
And Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke chartered a domestic flight on a plane owned by energy executives, another report said.
It all follows scrutiny of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s travel earlier this year, and threatens to distract from this week’s rollout of a tax plan with heightened importance to Republicans after their failure to repeal Obamacare and fulfill a key campaign pledge.
Foreign Trip
Price used military planes -- with White House approval -- to travel to Africa, Europe and Asia this year, Politico reported Thursday. The trips were to discuss global health security and other issues with leaders in various countries, an HHS spokesperson said.
The news came hours after Price said he would reimburse taxpayers for a fraction of the cost of his domestic flights aboard private aircraft. Price will pay $51,887.31 for his share of the costs, according to HHS. There were at least 26 private flights since February with costs totaling more than $400,000, Politico reported.
The White House defended the use of military jets, saying the administration has reduced the number of such flights by officials compared to the Obama administration’s first eight months.
“Use of military aircraft for cabinet and other essential travelers is sometimes an appropriate and necessary use of resources,” said Raj Shah, a White House spokesman. “The White House reviews requests for military air travel closely and has limited support missions to travel that is central to the White House’s mission, such as for international trips and travel for which military air is necessary and appropriate.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday the Trump administration has started a review of its travel policy, and has halted private air travel in the meantime. The White House didn’t authorize Price’s private air travel, Sanders said.
Price expressed regret for the controversy caused by his private travel, and said he would not continue to use private planes while a review is conducted by his department’s inspector general.
“It is clear to me that in this case, I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer,” Price said Thursday in a statement. “I know as well as anyone that the American people want to know that their hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely by government officials.”
Possible Firing
Trump said Wednesday that he was looking “very closely” at the possibility of firing Price.
“I’m not happy with it,” Trump told reporters.
Trump, when asked Thursday by a reporter if he would fire Price, walked away and didn’t answer.
Other Officials
The White House approved of Pruitt’s use of military jets, and the charter flight was approved internally, the EPA said after the Washington Post reported on his trips.
“Administrator Pruitt only took one charter flight, as approved by EPA’s ethics counsel. If a reimbursement was necessary, we would have been told during the approval process and acted accordingly,” agency spokeswoman Liz Bowman said.
Zinke flew from Las Vegas to Montana, his home state, in June aboard a plane owned by the executives of a Wyoming company at a cost to taxpayers of more than $12,000, the Post reported, citing a department spokeswoman who said the secretary’s charter flights were authorized by ethics officials.
Protecting Taxpayers
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Friday he has only taken one military plane during his tenure.
Mulvaney, who is helping sell the GOP’s tax plan, has backed sharp cuts in spending and said the Trump administration will place a higher emphasis on protecting taxpayers.
“I’ve been on one military jet in my entire life, and that was to visit the president in Mar-a-Lago,” he said in an interview. “And that’s the only time.”
— With assistance by Jennifer Jacobs, and Anna Edney.
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