ETHICS/HHS/TOM PRICE: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [9-27-17] said ‘we’ll see’ when asked if he would fire Health and Human Secretary Tom Price in the wake of reports he has used taxpayer-funded private planes for government business.
The President said he is ‘not happy’ about the practice several of his Cabinet members have engaged in…
The President and Price talked Wednesday morning, aides said, during a brief call. A spokesman for Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the conversation.
The issue came to the forefront after reports revealed that several of the President’s Cabinet secretaries, notably Price, chartered private planes on the federal dime.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general is investigating Price’s decision to opt for private charter planes instead of commercially available means of travel.
Politico first reported Price’s use of charter jets for official business earlier this month, and followed that article with another that said the secretary has traveled on charter flights at least 24 times since May, citing people familiar with his travel plans and a review of HHS documents.
Charter plane operators estimated 24 flights would have cost $300,000, Politico reported. Commercial trips would have cost thousands of dollars less…
The President’s blunt words underscored his strong displeasure toward Price that could ultimately lead to his dismissal. Yet one administration official noted that Trump has also been furious at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several other top advisers who he has not fired.”
-Lauren Fox, Jeremy Diamond, and Jeff Zeleny, “Trump on firing Price for taxpayer-funded private jet use: ‘We’ll see’,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Sept. 27, 2017 02:48pm