Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has used government planes owned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seven times this year to attend official events both in the United States and abroad, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The report comes after Tom Price stepped down from the Department of Health and Human Services over the revelation that he spent about $1 million in taxpayer dollars on private and government plane trips. Several other Cabinet heads are also under review for their travel on non-commercial planes.
Chao’s non-commercial air travel appears to be more typical than Price’s trips on private jets, however. The transportation secretary has used a government plane owned by the FAA seven times, and used them only when commercial flights could not accommodate her schedule or security needs, her office told the Washington Post.
Chao spokeswoman Marianne McInerney also told the Post that the previous transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx, used FAA planes on 116 trips over four years.
By contrast, Price had flown on a private plane 24 times between May and September. One of his predecessors, Kathleen Sebelius, said that she only took a charter flight once during her time as health and human services secretary under former President Barack Obama in order to fly to a remote area that was otherwise inaccessible.
Chao used FAA planes mostly for domestic travel, according to the Post. In one instance, she had plans to fly on a commercial airline to Detroit but had to unexpectedly remain in Washington, D.C. for part of the time she was scheduled to be traveling. She used a government plane in order to make it to the events in both Detroit and Washington, D.C., per the Post.
The transportation secretary also used government planes to fly to France for the Paris Air Show, then on to Italy for a conference with the Group of Seven, and back to the U.S., per the Washington Post.
The department was unable to estimate the cost of Chao’s travel on FAA planes since the transportation department does not have to reimburse the FAA for use of the planes like other agencies.
Read the Post’s full report here.
Trump: And Turtle still cant kill ObamaCare.
If Trump says anything to Chao, my Trump cray-cray-o-meter hits eleven.
She can do ANYTHING, not a peep.
Watch.
Trump: Why is this foreigner in my administration? Why did Bannon not know that she looks different?
Yeah, but TBH, I don’t see this being as big of a deal. I’d like to know the purpose of all seven trips, but the thing to Detroit as an example is something that makes actual sense. She was on business, she had a conflict and needed to be in two places, pretty much, at the same time.
I say of myself, I’m a Gemini, but I’m not that good - I can’t be two places at once. Don’t know about the other trips, but I can see this one, at least.
This being the Trump administration, it hadn’t occurred to me that legitimate governing activity was happening. I know that she was a notoriously bad Labor Secretary under W.
My point was that Trump is still conscious enough to know that she is one friend he needs to keep. On merits, he couldn’t care less IMO. He doesn’t do merits. But in Mr. Optics’ Neighborhood, it might be a problem if it was someone else.