White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday the Trump administration has started a review of its travel policy, and has halted private air travel in the meantime. The White House didn’t authorize Price’s private air travel, Sanders said.
Price expressed regret for the controversy caused by his private travel, and said he would not continue to use private planes while a review is conducted by his department’s inspector general.
“It is clear to me that in this case, I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer,” Price said Thursday in a statement. “I know as well as anyone that the American people want to know that their hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely by government officials.”
Possible Firing
Trump said Wednesday that he was looking “very closely” at the possibility of firing Price.
“I’m not happy with it,” Trump told reporters.
Trump, when asked Thursday by a reporter if he would fire Price, walked away and didn’t answer.
Other Officials
The White House approved of Pruitt’s use of military jets, and the charter flight was approved internally, the EPA said after the Washington Post reported on his trips.
“Administrator Pruitt only took one charter flight, as approved by EPA’s ethics counsel. If a reimbursement was necessary, we would have been told during the approval process and acted accordingly,” agency spokeswoman Liz Bowman said.