--- description: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was not breaking any laws when he used government aircraft. title: Steven Mnuchin's $800,000 Government Flights Were Completely Legal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b72057a979cd8a/6988e0d497cdff426f6b2b9e/gettyimages-856745526.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Steven Mnuchin's $800,000 Government Flights Were Completely Legal by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 6, 2017 1:28 PM CUT  US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrives to take part in a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shootings, on the South Lawn of the White House on October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrives to take part in a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shootings, on the South Lawn of the White House on October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 6, 2017 1:28 PM CUT Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was not breaking any laws when [he used government aircraft](http://time.com/4915080/watchdog-steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-trip-eclipse/ "undefined"), according to a report that follows an inquiry by his own [department](http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015e-ee60-dfe3-abfe-ffe93fab0000 "undefined"). Since he took the top job at the Department of the Treasury in February, Mnuchin has made nine requests to use government planes, and eight were approved; the other — for [his and his wife’s honeymoon](http://time.com/money/4941330/steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-honeymoon/ "undefined") to the U.K., France, and Italy in August — was withdrawn. The total cost of these trips came out to more than $800,000. “I see no violation of law in these requests and uses,” Rich Delmar, counsel for the Office of Inspector General for Treasury, concluded in the 21-page report, but suggested that “more rigor will be required in future requests,” and that the Treasury Department’s watchdog “advise that future requests be ready to justify government air in greater detail, especially regarding cost comparisons and needs for security and other special factors.” Scrutiny over Mnuchin’s travel is only the latest instance of potential controversy surrounding how the members of Trump’s cabinet choose to fly. Last Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price [resigned](http://time.com/4963637/tom-price-health-secretary-donald-trump-private-jet/ "undefined") after it was reported that he spent more than $1 million on private planes that ferried him as far away as Vietnam and China. (Price’s [apology](http://time.com/4961890/tom-price-apologizes-charter-plane-private-jet/ "undefined") and offer to reimburse part of the cost of the trips did not rectify the situation.) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and EPA chief Scott Pruitt remain subject to similar scrutiny. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/"},"headline":"Steven Mnuchin's $800,000 Government Flights Were Completely Legal","datePublished":"2017-10-06T13:28:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:45:57.801Z","description":"The total cost of these trips came out to more than $800,000","url":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b72057a979cd8a/6988e0d497cdff426f6b2b9e/gettyimages-856745526.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b72057a979cd8a/6988e0d497cdff426f6b2b9e/gettyimages-856745526.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING-TRUMP","caption":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING-TRUMP","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/","name":"Steven Mnuchin's $800,000 Government Flights Were Completely Legal"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tom Price Resigns After Private Plane Controversy","description":"President Donald Trump's health secretary has resigned, after his travel on costly flights triggered investigations and angered his boss.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zSj4Ouyi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-09-28T14:49:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zSj4Ouyi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/","duration":"PT1M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4972024/steven-mnuchin-planes-trump-cabinet/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```