September 29, 2017

Tom Price Resigns as Health and Human Services Secretary

“I’m not happy, I can tell you that. I’m not happy,” Trump said earlier.

Tom Williams/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Tom Price has resigned as Health and Human Services Secretary amid revelations he took more than two dozen private charter flights domestically since May, reportedly costing taxpayers at least $400,000, and, with White House approval, took military aircraft overseas at a cost of more than $500,000. 

The White House released a statement announcing Price’s decision on Friday.

https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/913866130271473664

Price followed up by tweeting his resignation letter.

After initially defending his use of private jets as being essential to his work, Price on Thursday issued a statement apologizing for the practice and pledged to pay back the government for the flights. The $51,887 reimbursement, however, would only cover the costs of his seats—not the entire flights.

As both sides of the aisle fumed over the reports this week, the expensive travel of other Trump administration officials, including Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, also came under scrutiny. It’s unclear whether Price’s resignation will lead to other high-level dismissals.

“I certainly don’t like the optics,” Trump told reporters when asked about Price’s fate earlier Friday. “I’m not happy, I can tell you that. I’m not happy.”

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate