President Trump was carried to victory in 2016 in part on the promise that he would rid the nation’s capital of grift, waste and abuse. Reports from just the last couple of weeks, however, suggest the president’s own team is part of the problem.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, is a fan of extremely expensive air travel. A huge fan. And all on your dime. In just the first six months in office, Mnuchin racked up approximately $1 million on just eight trips on military aircraft, according to documents obtained by Citizens for Ethics.
The kicker: No one in the administration can provide a good reason for why he flew on military aircraft, leaving us to assume he did it because he could. Further, adding insult to injury, Mnuchin “at every turn” opted for the more expensive flight options, according to the report.
In one case, Mnuchin’s office was told that a commercial flight to Miami would cost $688 per person. His office was also told that a government flight to the same destination would cost roughly $26,953.33. Mnuchin went with neither choice, opting instead to take a military flight that cost taxpayers approximately $45,136.
Then there’s HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who appears to have been involved personally in the attempted purchase of a $31,000 dining room set. That’s a 31 followed by three zeroes. For a dining room set. Adding insult to injury again is the fact that a set of emails obtained through yet another FOIA request suggests the agency’s original claim that Carson had “no awareness that the table was being purchased” may not be entirely accurate. Indeed, one email shows a staffer specifically requested “printouts of the furniture the Secretary and Mrs. Carson picked out.”
White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly defended the since-cancelled purchase by arguing the quality basically paid for itself. Axios reported: “[Kelly] rationalized Carson’s $31,000 outlay by saying the table could last for 80 or 100 years.”
The sad thing is that this article could probably be much longer. I haven’t even touched on the more than $900,000 that EPA chief Scott Pruitt has spent on noncommercial airfare, security and a soundproof booth in his office.
By the way, Mnuchin, Carson, and Puitt still have their jobs. There is, of course, an exception to the rule that people in Trumpland can get away with this sort of waste: former HHS Secretary Tom Price, who was pressured to resign following reports that he, too, racked up considerable airfare expenses. But the fact that Price got the heave-ho while Mnuchin remains in place, despite spending far, far more on air travel, actually raises more questions than it answers.
Voters were rightly outraged in when they learned in 2012 that the General Services Administration blew through at least $800,000 on swanky Las Vegas parties. In certain right-leaning corners, in fact, it was a wall-to-wall scandal. Today, you have to strain to hear the same people voice similar concerns about Mnuchin and company.
“Drain the Swamp” indeed.
