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HHS Secretary Tom Price resigns amid criticism for taking charter flights at taxpayer expense

The Washington Post: Tom Price, President Trump’s embattled health and human services secretary, resigned Friday amid sharp criticism of his extensive use of taxpayer-funded charter flights, the White House said. The announcement came shortly after Trump told reporters he considered Price a “fine man” but that he “didn’t like the optics” and planned to make a decision by the end of the day. By that point, the president had already received Price’s resignation letter. In a statement shortly afterward, the White House said Trump would designate Don J. Wright as acting secretary. Wright has been the acting assistant secretary for health and director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Price submitted a four-paragraph resignation letter in which he said he regretted “that the recent events have created a distraction” from the administration’s objectives. “Success on these issues is more important than any one person,” he continued. Not long after, HHS staff received a message from Price praising employees as “dedicated, committed” and saying it had been “a great joy” to serve with them.

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