POLITICO has identified at least 26 charter flights Price has taken since May at a cost of at least $400,000 to taxpayers. | AP Photo Poll: Voters say Price's charter flights are inappropriate

Nearly two-thirds of registered voters disapprove of HHS Secretary Tom Price’s decision to charter private jets to conduct official business, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows.

Sixty-four percent of voters said it was inappropriate for Price to take private aircraft, which costs tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial flights. Sixteen percent said the trips were appropriate.


The poll asked voters about five flights Price took on the East Coast two weeks ago, which POLITICO first reported last week. Price flew to Maine to participate in a discussion with a health care industry CEO, and then he made trips to health clinics in New Hampshire and Philadelphia to discuss efforts to fight the opioid epidemic.

POLITICO has identified at least 26 charter flights Price has taken since May at a cost of at least $400,000 to taxpayers.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 22-24. During that time, Price said he would stop taking private jets for official business pending a review by the HHS inspector general. Democratic lawmakers have also sought a detailed accounting from HHS on Price’s use of private jets.

Most voters said they hadn't read or heard much about Price's travel.

"The news that Secretary Price was flying private made waves in Washington, but the polling suggests it has not captured national attention," said Morning Consult co-founder and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp. "Just 18 percent of Americans say they heard a lot about the news, and an additional 25 percent said they heard some."

HHS has defended Price’s use of private planes as necessary to accommodate his demanding schedule, especially amid pressing priorities like responding to hurricanes and addressing the opioid crisis. However, many of the flights were unrelated to those issues and were to cities with frequent, inexpensive commercial options. POLITICO has identified at least 10 charter flights Price took since May that were not related to either the opioid crisis or hurricane response, including flights to conferences in Maine, San Diego, Calif., and Aspen, Colo.

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The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll also found that 26 percent of voters have a favorable view of Price, while 25 percent view him unfavorably.

Price, a former House Budget Committee chairman, represented Georgia in Congress for more than a decade and had a reputation as a fiscal hawk and fierce opponent of Obamacare.

The White House has sought to distance itself from Price’s travel practices. President Donald Trump over the weekend said the issue was being looked into, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House didn’t approve the trips. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway accompanied Price on trips to at least six states.

The poll surveyed 1,987 registered voters and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy. More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents — toplines here and crosstabs here.