MILLIONAIRES IN TRUMP’S CABINET ARE COSTING U.S. TAX-PAYERS MILLIONS

….This is Scott Pruitt’s First Class travel in 2017

 

Pruitt and several staffers raced to New York on a military jet, at a cost of $36,068.50, just to catch a plane to Rome.

 

We are beginning to learn that the former HHS Secretary, Tom Price, was not the only Trump secretary that likes to spend the tax-payer’s money.   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is continuing to spend, spend, spend our money to put his butt in first class seats wherever he travels.  He also stays in the up-scale hotels, while his staff and security personnel travel coach and stay in Holiday Inn level lodging.

 

As an example, Pruitt embarked on a whirlwind tour aimed at championing President Trump’s agenda at home and abroad.  But in that endeavor, he settled into a $1,641.43 First-Class seat for the short flight from DC to New York City. His DC to NYC ticket cost more than six times that of the two media aides who came along and sat in coach, according to the agency travel voucher.

 

In Manhattan, Pruitt made two brief television appearances praising the White House’s bad decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement.  He then stayed at an upscale hotel near Times Square and returned to Washington the next day.

 

After traveling with Trump on Air Force One for an infrastructure event in Cincinnati, Pruitt and several staffers then raced to New York on a military jet, at a cost to us of $36,068.50, to catch a plane to Rome.

The transatlantic flight was part of a round-trip ticket for the administrator that cost $7,003.52, according to EPA records.  That was several times what was paid for the other officials who went. In Rome, Pruitt and a group of aides and security personnel got private tours of the Vatican and met with papal officials, business executives and legal experts before heading briefly to a meeting of environmental ministers in Bologna. Pruitt departed the Group Seven summit a day early, before negotiations had concluded, to attend a Cabinet meeting where all of Trump’s deputies lauded the president’s job performance.  (You may recall seeing the disgusting round-the-table video where all the cabinet members individually praised the president like you would expect low-level subjects to praise a king or a dictator.)

 

“What did American taxpayers get for Pruitt visiting the Vatican and getting photographed with European agency heads?” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the EIP, on last year’s Italy trip. “It was all for show.”

 

The spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the topics discussed at the Vatican, but said in an email, “While in Italy, Administrator Pruitt discussed how the US is leading the world in environmental achievements to remediate toxic land, reduce air pollution, improve water infrastructure, and ensure access to clean drinking water.” She added: “These discussions were broad, and very well-received.”

 

In total, the taxpayer-funded travel for Pruitt and his top aides during that stretch in June cost at least $90,000, according to months of the receipts obtained.

 

In an interview with EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman, she said all of Pruitt’s travel expenses have been approved by federal ethics officials.  “He’s trying to further positive environmental outcomes and achieve tangible environmental results” through his travel, she said, adding that in the case of the New York trip, “He’s communicating the message about his agenda and the president’s agenda.”  On other trips, Bowman added: “He’s hearing directly from people affected by EPA’s regulatory overreach.”

 

As he enters his second year in charge of the EPA, Pruitt is distinguishing himself from his predecessors in ways that go well beyond policy differences. His travel practices, which tend to be secretive, costly and are very frequent.

 

Pruitt tends to bring larger entourages of political advisers on his trips than previous administrators. But while his aides usually fly coach, according to travel vouchers through August obtained by The Washington Post, Pruitt often sits in First or Business class, which previous administrators typically avoided.

 

Last year, Pruitt promoted US natural-gas exports in Morocco, sat on a panel about the rule-of-law in Rome and met with his counterparts from major industrialized countries.  This year, Pruitt plans to travel to Israel, Australia, Japan, Mexico and possibly Canada, according to officials familiar with his schedule.  (I doubt that Pruitt will be sitting in coach.)

 

The agency records show that wherever Pruitt’s schedule takes him, he flies First or Business class, citing unspecified security concerns. The EPA’s assistant inspector general for investigations told The Post in September that Pruitt has actually received a higher number of threats than his recent predecessors and that guarding the EPA chief pulls agents away from probing environmental crimes.  The reason for the threats is that Pruitt continues to cut back on the regulations that have kept the nation’s air and water free of pollution and that support dealing with today's climate change.

 

This week, Pruitt is expected to travel to New Hampshire on a trip that will include a meeting with the governor, a visit to a local paper company and a tour of a Superfund site.

 

And yes, the secretary is expected to take a large entourage and to fly First Class.

 

When in business as a marketing executive for Silicon Valley firms, the company executives only flew First Class when our travel miles allowed us to up-grade for no charge.  It would be nice to see those appointed in government to do the same. 

However, in the Trump administration, that’s probably asking a bit too much.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2018.