Trey Pollard trey.pollard@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price resigned amid scandals over his abuse of private travel funded by taxpayers - abuse mirrored in the travel habits of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The Washington Post reported that -- among other taxpayer-funded trips - Zinke booked a $12,000 charter flight on an oil executive’s jet -- a flight that had commercial options available for as cheap as $300. Pruitt meanwhile has already racked up nearly a million dollars in abusive spending since taking office, maintaining a massive personal security detail, an unnecessary soundproof phone booth and nearly $58,000 worth of private chartered and military flights.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"Forcing Tom Price from office does not come close to answering questions in the Trump Administration about the abuse of taxpayer funds when Ryan Zinke and Scott Pruitt are unrepentantly wasting hundreds of thousands on their own luxurious travel and sticking hardworking Americans with the bill. They deserve Price’s fate and should be removed from office immediately.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.