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Investigators reviewing HHS chief's private charter flights

 
Published Sept. 23, 2017

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are examining Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's recent use of costly charter flights on the taxpayers' dime for official business.

The HHS inspector general's office said Friday the agency is reviewing Price's charters to see if they violated government travel regulations, which generally require officials to minimize costs.

"We take this matter very seriously, and when questions arose about potentially inappropriate travel, we immediately began assessing the issue," Tesia Williams, spokeswoman for the department's inspector general, said in a statement. The review doesn't imply any conclusions of misconduct, Williams said.

In articles this week, Politico reported on Price's trips, saying it has identified at least 24 flights since early May.

Congressional Democrats say Price wasted taxpayer dollars by chartering private planes for official business when other cheaper options were available. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he would seek an investigation by the HHS inspector general.

Price is a former Republican congressman from Georgia and onetime chairman of the House Budget Committee. According to the initial Politico report, he chartered flights to a resort in Maine, where he was part of a discussion with a health care industry CEO.

He also flew on charters to visit community health centers in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.