Tom Price, President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health andHuman Services, has resigned after taking private and military jetsat taxpayer expense while heading one of the U.S.’s largestgovernment agencies, Bloomberg News' Anna Edney reports.

Trump intends todesignate Don J. Wright of Virginia to serve as acting secretary,effective at 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

Price, 62, quit after it was revealed by Politico that he tookmore than two dozen private flights at taxpayer expense as well astrips to Europe, Africa and Asia on military aircraft. The HHSdepartment’s Office of Inspector General launched an investigation,as did Congress. Price is the first cabinet secretary to leave theadministration, though Trump’s volatile White House has alreadyseen the departure of several top staffers.

His seven-month round trip in and out of the health agency wasbracketed by questions about his conduct, starting with trading ofstock in health-care companies and ending with the jet trips. Pricesaid he would write a check for the chartered jet trips to the U.S.government for $51,887.31 to cover his seat.

Price’s exit could distract from other administration prioritieslike tax reform. It may also raise further questions about otheragency heads who have taken taxpayer-funded trips on privateaircraft, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin;Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, asreported by CBS; and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, according tothe Washington Post.

During the administration’s months-long attempt to get Congressto repeal the Affordable Care Act, Price was never an obviousforce. He did, however, let the law whither under hisadministrative tenure. His agency slashed advertising funding meantto get people to sign up for insurance plans sold under the law,and cut budgets for local groups of “navigators” who helped peoplefind the right plan for them. HHS also shortened the time whenpeople could sign up for coverage, and took other steps thatcritics decried as “sabotage.”

Price’s successor will have to decide whether to try and makeObamacare succeed, attempt to modify it by rewriting its rules andregulations, or allow it to slide into neglect.

One obvious candidate to succeed Price is Seema Verma, who leadsthe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is directlyresponsible for running much of the Affordable Care Act. Another isScott Gottlieb, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner whohas implemented several programs on drug prices and modernizing theagency.

Verma is seen as close to the White House. She worked with VicePresident Mike Pence to implement the then-governor’s HealthyIndiana Plan, and has regularly visited Capitol Hill to help pushObamacare repeal efforts.

Price, a doctor, joined Congress in 2005 as a representativefrom Georgia and was one of the original members of the Tea Party,which promotes small government. In the House, he introducedseveral bills to replace Obamacare. While his nomination to headHHS was backed by the American Medical Association, the U.S.’slargest doctors lobby, that group and almost every otherhealth-care trade organization issued strong statements opposingthe administration’s Obamacare-repeal attempts.

Price was sworn in in February as he was being asked aboutwhether, as a congressman, he improperly traded stocks of medicalcompanies while at the same time dealing with health-carelegislation that could have affected them.

In one instance, he received a discount on shares of InnateImmunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian biotechhnology company. Healso invested in a medical-supply distributor before introducinglegislation that could have benefited the company.

Price defended the trades at the time, saying a broker directedthe trades independently, except for his purchase of Innate shares.He said he learned Innate and the special stock offering throughInnate board member and fellow Representative Chris Collins of NewYork.

Then, this month, Politico reported that he had taken more thantwo dozen private flights at a cost to taxpayers of hundreds ofthousands of dollars, including trips to Nashville, Tennessee,where his son lives and where Price owns a condominium. His officedefended the travel decisions, calling the trips more convenientthan cheaper commercial travel. Cabinet members typically fly oncommercial airlines unless there is a specific reason to take aprivate plane.

In 2009, Price told CNBC that Congress should cut spending ongovernment planes that supporters said were needed to carrymilitary officials leading soldiers into combat. Price criticizedan original effort to spend $550 million on eight passenger jets,and also objected to a reduced $220 million request for fourjets.

“Now we need to cut it from four jets to zero jets,” he said atthe time. “This is just another example of fiscal irresponsibilityrun amok in Congress right now.”

Price was confirmed in February by a party-line vote in theSenate. Democrats opposed his free-market views on health care andhis promises to help repeal the Affordable Care Act.

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