White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said in an interview on Sunday that the use of private jets for government business, which led to the resignation of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, is probably legal, but ethical questions remain.
{mosads}”My guess is, and there’s a couple of ongoing investigations into a couple of different agencies right now, we’ll find out that all of this travel was entirely legal,” Mulvaney told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
“The question is whether or not it’s right, and I think that’s the lens the president wants to look at this travel through, not just whether or not it follows the law.”
The White House on Friday issued a memo to members of President Trump’s Cabinet outlining rules for travel after Price resigned amid a backlash for his expensive private charter flights.
Price is not the only Cabinet member under fire for his travel on government business.
Two requests for military aircraft by Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin are under investigation from the Office of the Inspector General in the Treasury Department.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt are also under scrutiny for their use of private aircraft for government business, while Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin spent nearly half his time on a recent international trip sightseeing and shopping with his wife, whose airfare was paid for by the government, The Washington Post reported.