Tom Price

Tom Price   (politician)
Born	October 8, 1954 Lansing, Michigan
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Party	Republican Party (United States)
Resigned as Secretary of Health and Human Services following criticism of his use of private charters and military aircraft for travel  United States Secretary of Health and Human Services  In office February 10, 2017 - September 29, 2017  Chair of the House Budget Committee In office January 3, 2015 - January 3, 2017  U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 6th district In office January 3, 2005 - February 10, 2017  Member of the Georgia Senatefrom the 56th district In office January 3, 1997 - January 3, 2005

Thomas Edmunds Price is an American physician and Republican Party politician who was the U.S. representative for Georgia's 6th district, encompassing the northern suburbs of Atlanta, from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump and served in that role from February to September 2017.

On September 29, 2017, he resigned as head of HHS following criticism of his use of private charters and military aircraft for travel. In July 2018, the HHS inspector general urged the HHS to recoup at least $341,000 from Price for wasteful expenditures.

While in Congress, Price chaired the House Committee on the Budget, Republican Study Committee and Republican Policy Committee.

Private jet scandal and Resignation

In a series of reports in September 2017, Politico reported that since May 2017, Price had expended more than $1 million of department funds for his own travel on private charter jets and military aircraft. Many of the flights were between cities that are easily accessible by train or car and have frequent, low-cost commercial airline service. Five Democratic members of Congress requested an inspector general's investigation into Price's use of private aircraft. Price's use of private planes was legal but was criticized by ethics experts as a misuse of taxpayer funding. Price's spokesperson justified Price's use of private jets as a reasonable precaution, given that Price was once unable to attend an important meeting because a commercial flight was cancelled; Politico noted that the flight in question was cancelled because air travel had been virtually shut down in the region in question at the time, preventing even private jets from taking off. As a congressman in 2009, Price had criticized the use of private jets by government officials as "fiscal irresponsibility run amok".

Following Politico's reporting on the matter, Price said that he would stop taking taxpayer-funded private jet flights pending a formal review by his department's inspector general. President Trump said that he was unhappy about Price's expenditures, but declined to state whether he would fire him. Price said later that September that he would reimburse taxpayers for $51,887, which he calculated as the cost of his seat on the more than $400,000 worth of charter flights. He also vowed to discontinue the use of private charter flights for his travel. Later that day, it was revealed that the expenditures for Price's charter and military flights were higher than $1 million, including flights taken by Secretary Price and his wife to Europe and Africa. Politico also noted that Price had, in June 2017, defended a proposal to cut $663,000 from HHS's $4.9 million annual travel budget.

The reports from Politico sparked a larger inquiry into the use of private planes by Trump administration officials. The House Oversight Committee started a bipartisan investigation led by Representatives Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) of all use of private and government-owned planes by non-elected government officials of the Executive Branch on September 26, citing UnitedStatesCode 5 5733, which states "The travel of an employee shall be by the most expeditious means of transportation practicable and shall be commensurate with the nature and purpose of the duties of the employee requiring such travel." Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) also sent a letter to the White House asking to "detail what steps the administration has taken to ensure that cabinet secretaries use the most fiscally responsible travel in accordance with the public trust they hold and the spirit and letter of all laws, regulations, and policies that apply."

Resignation

On September 29, 2017, the White House announced that Price had resigned. Price, with a tenure of 231 days, became the shortest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in history. On July 13, 2018, the inspector general of HHS issued a report finding that Price had repeatedly violated government travel rules, and had wasted at least $341,000 through his use of chartered jets and military aircraft. The report recommended that the government attempt to recoup the money improperly spent on Price's travels.

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