Report: HHS chief Tom Price spent $25K for private jet from D.C. to Philly
When Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price flew to Philadelphia last Friday he took a private jet that cost taxpayers about $25,000, Politico reports.
Politico says the 135-mile trip from Dulles International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport was one of five private flights Price took on official business last week.
“Price, a frequent critic of federal spending who has been developing a plan for department-wide cost savings, declined to comment,” Politico said.
It said Price could have flown to Philadelphia on a commercial flight for anywhere from $447 to $725 per person, round trip, or made the trip by train for as low as $72 when booked in advance.
During his visit Friday to a Delaware County drug treatment center with White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, Price announced $144 million in addiction treatment grants.
In contrast, Housing and Uraban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who was in Philadelphia Tuesday to open a school, had to cut short an interview with our reporters Kristen Graham and Aubrey Whelan because he had to catch a train.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., weighed on the report in a tweet.
Dear Tom Price,
As someone who travels from DC to Philly every week let me recommend Amtrak.
Regards,
Brendan https://t.co/uBTRi3wUsV— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) September 20, 2017
In the meantime, Dan Diamond, one of the authors of the Politico story, tweeted a photo of the private jet Rice and Conway flew on.
THE PLANE — Here’s the 30-seat charter that Tom Price, Kellyanne Conway took for their ~$25,000 DC-Philly roundtrip. https://t.co/LXUYelPqwu pic.twitter.com/RCdbZUWYiB
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 20, 2017
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