HHS/TOM PRICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump on Friday [9-29-17] in an uproar over Price’s use of private charter planes for government business.
His abrupt departure was announced an hour after Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Price’s use of expensive plane travel and did not like the optics of it…
Trump named Don Wright to serve as acting secretary. Wright is currently the deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the office of disease prevention and health promotion…
Price promised on Thursday to repay the nearly $52,000 cost of his seats on private charter flights. ‘The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes,’ Price, a former congressman, said.
But that was not enough to satisfy Trump.
Trump told reporters that the ‘optics’ of Price’s travel were not good since, as president, he is spending a lot of time trying to renegotiate U.S. contracts to get a better deal for taxpayers…
Price had also been seen in the White House as having been ineffective in getting Congress to pass healthcare reform legislation, an effort that has fizzled on Capitol Hill.
Price was one of a handful of senior officials in Trump’s administration put on the defensive over reports about their use of charter flights and government aircraft, sometimes for personal travel, when they could have flown commercial for less money.”
-Steve Holland, “Under pressure from Trump, Tom Price resigns as health secretary over private plane uproar,” Reuters, Sept. 29, 2017 01:49pm