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Thursday, Sep 28 2017

Full Issue

House Launches Investigation Into HHS Secretary's Private Jet Use; Trump Says He's 'Not Happy' With Price

When asked if Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price would be fired over his use of a private jet that has cost taxpayers more than $400,000 since May, President Donald Trump said, "We'll see." Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee is requesting information on Price's travel.

Under Federal Travel Regulations, officials are advised to take the 鈥渕ost expeditious鈥 means of transportation and 鈥渂y no means should include personal use,鈥 Chairman Trey Gowdy and ranking member Elijah Cummings write in a sample letter addressed to Price, who served more than a decade in the House before joining Trump's administration. Similar letters were sent to 23 other agencies and the White House. (Diamond, 9/27)

Politico has revealed that Price has flown 26 times on private aircraft since last May at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a break with the practice of his predecessors, who generally took commercial flights. Some Trump advisers are urging Trump to get rid of Price, according to three people familiar with the conversations. 鈥淗is conduct is pretty much indefensible,鈥 one senior administration official said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how you defend it.鈥 (Dawsey, Restuccia and Nelson, 9/27)

President Donald Trump says he鈥檚 鈥渘ot happy鈥 with his top health official, putting Tom Price鈥檚 job in jeopardy after his costly charter flights triggered a congressional investigation of administration travel. Asked whether he鈥檚 planning on firing Price, Trump responded Wednesday: 鈥淲e鈥檒l see.鈥 (Alonso-Zaldivar and Lucey, 9/28)

President Trump on Wednesday said he is "not happy" about revelations聽that Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price took numerous flights on government-funded private jets for work and personal trips. But the former congressman from Georgia is likely to keep his job, according to two people familiar with Trump's thinking. Responding to questions from reporters at the White House, Trump said he is 鈥渓ooking into鈥 the situation and that 鈥減ersonally, I'm not happy about it, and I let him know it.鈥 Trump spoke by phone with Price in recent days, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel issue. (Nakamura and Gearan, 9/27)

According to a senior administration official familiar with Mr. Trump鈥檚 thinking, the president鈥檚 willingness to ferret out financial wrongdoing is not good news for Mr. Price, a physician and a former Georgia congressman who has been a vocal proponent of cost-cutting within his own agency. Mr. Trump, who is known to dislike appearances of financial waste, is said to be increasingly frustrated with a series of reports published by Politico about Mr. Price鈥檚 spending habits. (Rogers, 9/27)

The inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department is probing the flights, and the House Oversight Committee has asked the White House and various agencies to turn over information about any private flights. (Decker, 9/27)

On Capitol Hill, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent letters instructing administration officials to supply details and documents from all trips on government-owned or chartered aircraft by nonelected political appointees. Letters went to the heads of 24 executive departments and independent agencies and to White House chief of staff John Kelly. (Overby, 9/27)

Democratic lawmakers began calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to resign on Wednesday following a series of reports about his use of private jets at taxpayers鈥 expense. Five House Democrats joined together to demand Price鈥檚 resignation, hours after President Trump said he鈥檚 鈥渘ot happy鈥 with his health secretary鈥檚 pattern of costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to ride on private planes. (Marcos, 9/27)

As a Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed for the second time in three months this week, the man tapped to聽 lead the charge found himself at the center of another controversy. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, according to a series of reports from Politico, has racked up a tab of more than $400,000 in private jet travel, despite his predecessors鈥 longstanding practice of traveling on commercial airlines. (Facher, 9/27)

On Wednesday, the the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a letter asking Price for details on his use of 鈥済overnment-owned aircraft for personal travel or private non-commercial aircraft for official travel.鈥 The letter, signed by the committee鈥檚 top Republican and Democrat, gives Price two weeks to provide the records. It also drags the former congressman into an inquiry by fellow Republicans, a relative rarity in Washington politics. HHS鈥檚 Office of Inspector General is also investigating the trips. (Edney, 9/27)

The House Oversight Committee will investigate the use of private jet travel by Cabinet officials. The committee on Wednesday sent letters to the White House聽and 24 federal agencies聽requesting information related to senior officials鈥 use of government-owned aircraft or private non-commercial aircraft for official and personal travel. (Weixel, 9/27)

A majority of voters thinks it's inappropriate for Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to use private jets for official business, a new poll released聽Wednesday聽shows.聽聽Price has used a charter flight at least 26 times since May, totaling about $400,000, according to a series of Politico reports. 聽(Hellmann, 9/27)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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