The Memo: Swamp proves sticky for Trump
Channel: Global News
Date: 2017-09-30

President Trump moved to drain a mini-swamp of his own administration’s making late Friday afternoon, accepting Tom Price’s resignation as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Price had been in the middle of a maelstrom all week over his use of private jets at taxpayer expense.  

The cost reached around $400,000 for Price’s domestic flights, which included short jaunts between Washington and Philadelphia, as well as journeys on routes served by commercial airlines.

The revelations about Price, first reported by Politico, fueled scrutiny of other flights by top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

The Price controversy is said to have irked Trump, since it cut so strongly against his famous campaign promise to change how the Washington game is played. 

But there have been several other instances where that pledge has been called into question.  

Government reform advocates have complained about the ethical shadows cast by everything from the Trump International Hotel to the president’s failure to entirely divest from his other businesses. 

Walter Shaub, who tangled repeatedly with the administration as head of the Office of Government Ethics, resigned in July, calling the White House “a disappointment” on ethics in an interview with National Public Radio.