US health secretary apologises for private plane travel

US Health Secretary Tom Price has apologised over his private plane trips on official government business.

The former Georgia congressman said he will reimburse taxpayers and fly commercial in future.
His apology comes a day after US President Donald Trump said he was "not happy" with Mr Price's trips.
Government officials, except those dealing with national security matters, are required to take commercial flights for work-related travel.
An investigation by Politico found Mr Price had taken at least 24 such flights since early May at a cost to taxpayers of $300,000 (£223,000).
"To make sure everyone knows that this will never happen again, I am taking the following steps," said Mr Price in a statement on Thursday.
He said he would continue to co-operate with a review into the matter by his Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) inspector general.
"I will take no more private charter flights as Secretary of HHS," he added. "No "Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won't pay a dime for my seat on those planes."
Two other members of Mr Trump's cabinet are under scrutiny by inspectors general for their use of private planes while on the job:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is accused of flying with his wife to view last month's solar eclipse
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has spent more than $58,000 on non-commercial travel

When asked if he would fire the Health and Human Services Secretary over his trips, Mr Trump said on Wednesday: "We'll see."
Mr Price's flights have included travelling from Washington DC to Nashville for the afternoon, where he spent less than 90 minutes at two scheduled events and had lunch with his son, who lives in the Tennessee city.
The Learjet round-trip cost nearly $18,000 of taxpayers' money, according to Politico.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a letter on Wednesday asking Mr Price about his use of "government-owned aircraft for personal travel or private non-commercial aircraft for official travel".
The committee gave Mr Price two weeks to hand over the records.
Tesia D Williams, a spokeswoman for the HHS inspector general, told the BBC the agency is reviewing whether it was "potentially inappropriate travel".

Comments

Italy Update: Italian nurses share the startling reality of fighting the pandemic

Along with doctors and other medical staff, nurses have been on the frontline of Italy's fight against the coronavirus. She as said to be bruised after using a face mask and said she couldnot go to the toilet or drink for six hours. Another collapsed asleep on a laptop at the end of a relentless 10-hour shift. Along with doctors and other medical staff, nurses have been on the frontline of Italy's fight against coronavirus - sharing stories of exhaustion and heroism in the face of a disease that has killed more than 800 people in the country and infected over 12,400 Young nurse Alessia Bonari, who shared a photo showing the marks on her face after wearing a protective mask, said she was afraid to go to work every day In an Instagram post, she wrote: "I am afraid because the mask might not stick properly to the face, or I might have accidentally touched myself with dirty gloves, or maybe the lenses don't cover my eyes fully and something slipp

Nigeria’s Super Eagles qualify for Russia 2018 World Cup

Nigeria became the first African country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after they beat Zambia 1-0 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital. The first half of the encounter ended goalless, with the Chipolopolo the better side, troubling the Super Eagles with their pace in attack. However, in the second half, the game swung the hosts’ way, after Gernot Rohr introduced Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi for Simon Moses. Iwobi finished off a fine move down the right, following nice combination play between Victor Moses and Shehu Abdullahi. Nigeria now have 13 points at the top of Group and an unassailable six-point lead ahead of Zambia, with one round of games left. They join other countries like Brazil, Spain, Mexico, England, Germany, Iran, South Korea, etc. who have also booked their places at next year’s tournament.

CoronaVirus:Troops has been sent to New York 'Containment Zone'

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a one-mile (1.6km) coronavirus "containment zone" around a town north of New York City. New Rochelle has seen "probably the largest cluster" of US cases, he said. National Guard troops will be used to clean schools in the town and deliver food to any quarantined individuals. The death toll in Italy, one of the countries worst hit by the virus, rose to 631 as the authorities placed the whole country in lockdown. Italy's death toll is the highest outside China, which recorded its lowest number of new infections, just 19, on Tuesday . China, where the virus was first detected, has seen a total of 80,754 confirmed cases, with 3,136 deaths. Why is New York state taking this action? The state has 173 active cases, the most in the US. Of these cases, 108 are in Westchester County, where New Rochelle is located. New York City, which is located around 25 miles (40km) south of New Rochelle, has 36 confir

Geezzyworld's Blog

Search This Blog