Price: My Charter Flights Were Approved By ‘Normal Processes’ – There Won’t Be Air Charters at HHS Going Forward

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” HHS Secretary Tom Price stated that his charter flights were approved by “normal processes” that prior administrations went through, he will pay for his portion of those trips, and announced there won’t be any private air charters within HHS in the future.

Price said, “I think what the important point here is that, all of these trips were official business. All of them were within budget. All of them were approved by the normal processes that every other administration has gone through, prior to the trip, not after. But we’ve heard the concerns. I’ve heard the concerns. I’ve heard the criticisms. And, in order to make certain that people appreciate that my respect for the taxpayer is as strong as it can be and always has been in my 40-year career, we think it’s important to do a number of things. One is to say there will be no private air charters at HHS going forward. Second, is to cooperate fully, obviously, with the inspector general. There’s a review going on, and that I called for an internal review within the department itself. And then finally, to pay for my portion of those trips. This is unprecedented, never been done, to our understanding, before by a secretary, in spite of the fact that previous administrations had secretaries that flew an awful lot.”

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