Q: Has Tom Price paid back the money for the use of the private jet or does he have a deadline to do that?
—Alice Lewis, Marietta
A: Price wrote a personal check to the U.S. Treasury for his travel before he tendered his resignation on Sept. 29 as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. An HHS spokesman confirmed on Oct. 6 that the processing of the payment has been completed.
In mid-September, Politico reported that Price chose private charter flights over commercial domestic flights 24 times since May and that his wife had also accompanied him on several military flights abroad.
Media outlets reported he frequently used private and military planes for domestic and international travel while on HHS business, at an estimated combined taxpayer cost of more than $1 million.
Prior to his resignation, Price announced he would reimburse the government roughly $52,000 for the cost of his seat on the private domestic flights. Price’s spokeswoman told Politico at the time he had already reimbursed the cost of his wife’s travel on the international flights.
In letters to acting Health and Human Services Secretary Don Wright and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), requested proof last week of Price’s reimbursement to the government by Oct. 6.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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