Under pressure from Trump, Price resigns
as health secretary over private plane uproar
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[September 30, 2017]
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health and
Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned under pressure from
President Donald Trump on Friday in an uproar over Price's use of costly
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 private aircraft and did not like the
way it reflected on his administration.
"Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price offered his
resignation earlier today and the president accepted," the White House
said in a statement.
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.
"I'm not happy. OK? I'm not happy," Trump told reporters on the White
House South Lawn.
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Candidates to succeed Price included Seema Verma, who is administrator
of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and who is close to
Vice President Mike Pence, and Scott Gottlieb, a physician who serves as
commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, according to industry
analysts.
Several sources saw Gottlieb as a clear front runner. They said he got
along well with the White House and is viewed favorably there.
Price's resignation leaves Trump with a second Cabinet position to fill.
He has yet to pick a secretary for homeland security after hiring former
Secretary John Kelly as his White House chief of staff.
It was the latest blow to the Trump White House, which has struggled to
get major legislative achievements passed by Congress and has been
embroiled in one controversy after another since Trump took office in
January.
Price, a former congressman, was instrumental in the Trump
administration's policies aimed at undercutting Obamacare, as well as
working with governors across the country to slowly begin unraveling
parts of the law.
In a resignation letter, Price offered little in the way of contrition.
He said he had been working to reform the U.S. healthcare system and
reduce regulatory burdens, among other goals.
"I have spent forty years both as a doctor and public servant putting
people first. I regret that the recent events have created a distraction
from these important objectives," he said.
Trump, currently trying to sell his tax cut plan and oversee the federal
response to devastation wreaked by three hurricanes, saw the Price drama
as an unnecessary distraction and behind the scenes was telling aides
"what was he thinking?," a source close to the president said.
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 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 was trying to renegotiate U.S. contracts to get a
better deal for taxpayers.
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![](../images/093017pics/news_p27.jpg)
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price speaks about
efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and the advancement of the
American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March
17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_080217.png)
"Look, I think he's a very fine person. I certainly don't like the
optics," Trump said.
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.
The White House issued an order late on Friday saying use of private
planes required approval from White House Chief of Staff John Kelly
and that the commercial air system was appropriate even for very
senior officials with few exceptions.
The Washington Post on Friday reported that Veterans Affairs
Secretary David Shulkin attended a Wimbledon tennis match, toured
Westminster Abbey and took a cruise on the Thames this summer during
a 10-day trip to discuss veterans' health issues in Britain and
Denmark.
Shulkin, who traveled on a commercial airline, was accompanied on
the trip by his wife, whose airfare was paid for by the government
and who received a per diem for meals, the Post said, noting that
the Department of Veterans Affairs said she was traveling on
"approved invitational orders."
His six-person traveling party included an acting undersecretary of
health and her husband as well as two aides. They were accompanied
by a security detail of as many as six people, the Post said.
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Washington news media outlet Politico has reported that Price had
taken at least two dozen private charter flights since May at a cost
to U.S. taxpayers of more than $400,000. Politico also reported he
took approved military flights to Africa and Europe costing
$500,000.
Senior U.S. government officials travel frequently, but are
generally expected to keep costs down by taking commercial flights
or the train when possible.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have also been in the spotlight for
their travel habits.
(Additional reporting by David Alexander, James Oliphant, Yasmeen
Abutaleb and Toni Clarke; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Andrew Hay)
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