Trump's Administration Hasn't Drained the Swamp It's Become It [View all]

[KelleyKramer]

This was written by Dem congressional rep Ted Lieu


Trump's Administration Hasn't Drained the Swamp — It's Become It

Everywhere you look in Washington today, you find examples of financial mismanagement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-administration-hasn-t-drained-swamp-it-s-become-ncna813486




Everywhere you look in Washington, you can find examples of financial mismanagement. Tom Price resigned as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services at the end of September after racking up a huge bill from taxpayer-funded luxury-jet travel. As first reported by Politico, Price took hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of private jets on the government’s dime, including a $25,000 hour-long flight from D.C. to Philadelphia. Like Price, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt apparently believe that taxpayer funds can be used for personal travel. Secretary Mnuchin flew with his wife on a government jet to Fort Knox in Kentucky, a trip that was auspiciously — or suspiciously, depending on your viewpoint —timed to the solar eclipse. Pruitt spent over $58,000 of taxpayer funds on noncommercial jet travel even though cheaper commercial options were available.

To stop this abuse, I introduced the Swamp Flyers Act last month, a bill that bans government officials from traveling on government-funded non-commercial planes unless there is a national security justification or no commercial flights are available. Officials would also be required to certify, under penalty of perjury, that no commercial flights were available. My bill protects the fundamental principle that public funds are meant for the public.

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Indeed, President Trump seems to have a pretty good idea how to enrich oneself at taxpayer expense. He has already spent more than two months worth of his time in office at one of the golf properties in which he has a financial stake. Because he refuses to fully divest his financial interests, each trip to a Trump-owned commercial property essentially forces the American people to deposit funds into his families’ bank account. His large entourage of staff and security personnel also pay lodging and meal expenses at these Trump properties with taxpayer funds.

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It is unacceptable that the President is potentially engaging in such self-dealing. Foreign diplomats openly admit they stay at the Trump Hotel in D.C. to try to curry favor with the President. It’s clear the swamp is getting bigger, not shrinking. All of which brings me to my second bill, the Stop Waste and Misuse by the President Act – or the SWAMP Act. This bill would force the President to reimburse the Treasury Department for federal funds spent at properties in which he or his family has a financial stake.

More at the link
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-administration-hasn-t-drained-swamp-it-s-become-ncna813486


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