US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he is “not happy” with his top health official, putting US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price’s job in jeopardy after his costly charter flights triggered a congressional investigation of administration travel.
Asked whether he was planning on firing Price, Trump responded: “We’ll see.”
A former Republican congressman from Georgia, Price played a supporting role in the fruitless Republican effort to repeal former US president Barack Obama’s healthcare law, which has been another source of frustration for the president.
Price is known as a conservative policy expert, but his penchant for taking private charter aircraft on the taxpayer’s dime is creating new headaches for the White House.
Late in the day, Price’s office said he has heard the criticism and has taken it to heart. There was no indication he would be stepping down.
Prompted partly by controversy over Price, the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday sent requests for detailed travel records to the White House and 24 departments and agencies, dating back to Trump’s first day in office.
The letters were signed by the committee’s chairman, US Representative Trey Gowdy, a Republican, and its ranking Democrat, US Representative Elijah Cummings.
Lawmakers are demanding information on political appointees’ use of government planes for personal travel, as well as their use of private charters for official travel. The committee wants details by Oct. 10.
The president vented his displeasure with Price to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to sell his tax overhaul in Indianapolis.
“I was looking into it, and I will look into it, and I will tell you personally I’m not happy about it,” Trump responded when asked about Price’s travel. “I am not happy about it. I’m going to look at it. I’m not happy about it and I let him know it.”
Trump’s comments seemed to take the secretary’s office by surprise. For hours there was no response from the Department of Health and Human Services, but on Wednesday evening a spokeswoman released a statement.
“As the secretary said over the weekend, he’s heard the criticism and the concerns,” spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said. “He takes that very seriously and has taken it to heart.”
Previously Price’s office had said it was cooperating with a review by the department’s inspector general, and he would stop flying on charters until that investigation is complete.
Price’s travels were first reported last week by Politico, which said it had identified 26 charter flights at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cheaper commercial flights were a viable option in many cases.
Price’s office said the secretary’s demanding schedule sometimes does not permit the use of commercial airline flights.
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