HHS Tom Price chartered government-funded jets to places he owns property

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom PriceThomas (Tom) Edmunds PriceWork requirements exactly what OH needs to roll back the ObamaCare disaster Price says working toward declaring opioid crisis national emergency Declare a true state of emergency MORE used a government-funded jet to take trips in which he visited with his son and colleagues, Politico reported on Tuesday.

And Trump says he let Price know it.

Trump spoke to reporters Wednesday as he departed the White House for a trip to Indianapolis to sell his tax plan.

The Health and Human Services inspector general is investigating Price's use of chartered aircraft, with the department adamant that he never violated federal travel regulations that state officials are only allowed to charter planes if "no scheduled commercial airline service is reasonably available...to fulfill your agency's travel requirement". He's also said he welcomes the review.

The trips were among the 26 flights on private jets that were previously found to have cost taxpayers the equivalent of $300,000, Politico found. So, unless Price had 51 people in his travel posse, he could have saved taxpayers money by flying commercial. Price gave a 20-minute speech, then left, Politico reports.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price took a government-funded private jet in August to get to St. Simons Island, an exclusive Georgia resort where he and his wife own land, a day and a half before he addressed a group of local doctors at a medical conference that he and his wife have long attended.

While what Price did may be technically legal, it raises some eyebrows ethically, said Richard Painter, a top ethics official under President George W. Bush, particularly when business represents a disproportionate piece of the trip.