The White House has asked Health and Human Services to temporarily halt private charter flights for agency officials while the department investigates a series of taxpayer-funded trips taken by HHS Secretary Tom Price.
“The White House does not have a role on the front end of approving private charter flights at the agencies,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday.
Sanders said White House officials “have asked a halt be put … at HHS on any private charter flights” until an internal review and investigation by the agency’s Inspector General have both been completed.
Price has come under fire for chartering private planes on the taxpayer dime on several occasions since assuming his role at HHS. A spokeswoman for the former Georgia congressman said he has paid attention to the widespread criticism of his actions and “takes that very seriously and has taken it to heart.”
Sanders could not say whether Price met with Trump during a visit to the White House earlier Thursday for a meeting on the opioid crisis.
“I don’t know if they’ve spoken today, but I know that they have spoken on this issue frequently,” she told reporters.
