Ex-HUD Chief Castro: Trump Team is a “Circus”

Julian Castro, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the second term of the Obama Administration, continued to maintain a high profile by launching a sharp attack at Dr. Tom Price, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after news reports that the cabinet secretary was using pricey chartered flights rather than low-price commercial flights for government business.

 

Castro, who broke with Executive Branch precedent last year by endorsing Hillary Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries, used his Facebook page to call out Dr. Price and to link his perceived failings to a wider slam against the Trump White House.

 

“First, Trump's Treasury Secretary tried to get a government jet to travel in on his honeymoon,” Castro wrote. “Now we find out the Health and Human Services Secretary recently used chartered private jets at a cost of $25,000 per flight just to go, for example, from D.C. to Philadelphia, when there are plenty of commercial flights and trains that will get you there for less then (sic) $500. These people support legislation that will take away healthcare from seniors, the disabled and everyday families, but they insist on living large at taxpayer expense. Total hypocrisy and selfishness.”

 

Castro closed his post with a bit of self-congratulatory accolades and another slap at the current Administration.

 

“My colleagues and I in the Obama Administration generally flew coach on commercial flights,” he added. “I had HUD book Southwest flights when we could get them. That's being responsible with your money. These guys are a circus.”

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