tom price
Twitter continued to roast former health secretary Tom Price after his resignation. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price resigned on Friday (29 September) after igniting a firestorm of criticism over his use of costly private jets for official government business. His departure came shortly after Trump said he was disappointed in the health secretary's conduct and did not like the "optics" of a Cabinet member spending more than $1m (£746,403) of taxpayers' money on travel and chartered flights since May.

"I'm not happy, OK?" Trump told reporters before departing to spend the weekend at his golf club in New Jersey. "I can tell you, I'm not happy."

The controversy over Price's flights drew fierce criticism with many calling for his resignation and demanded he repays the taxpayer money spent on expensive flights. On Thursday, Price apologized, said he would pay for "his seat" on the chartered flights, amounting to about $52,000, and vowed never to take private planes while serving as secretary.

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His offer, however, did little to quell criticism over Price's expensive trips. Many critics slammed the former Georgia congressman as a "hypocrite" given that he branded himself as a fiscal conservative and had backed the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the HHS budget.

"I have spent forty years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first. I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives," Price wrote in his resignation letter. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Price offered his resignation on Friday and that President Trump had accepted.

Price is the first member of Trump's Cabinet to leave office since the president took office in January. He is also the latest in a slew of officials leaving the embattled Trump administration.

Following Price's resignation, Twitter continued to roast the former Cabinet member with many saying "good riddance". Many demanded he still repays taxpayers "every dime spent" on the costly chartered flights. Others responded with a slew of "Price" puns, jokes, comments and memes.

Democratic Representative Barbara Lee of California tweeted: "Secretary Tom Price's resignation should be the first of many. Waste, fraud and abuse runs rampant in the Trump Administration."

Eugene Gu tweeted: "Tom Price better buy his own plane ticket out of town."

One Twitter user wrote: "The Price was not right. Price takes flight. Paying the price. (If only I had 280 could go on for days)."

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