WASHINGTON (REUTERS, AFP, NYT) - US Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump on Friday (Sept 29) in an uproar over Price's use of costly private charter planes for government business. His abrupt departure is the latest blow to the Trump White House, which has struggled to get major legislative achievements passed by Congress and has been embroiled in one controversy after another since Trump took office in January.
Below is a list of the key figures who had been fired or had resigned from Trump's administration.
JANUARY
SALLY YATES
The acting US attorney-general was fired by Trump after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce the president's immigration ban.
FEBRUARY
MICHAEL FLYNN
Trump's national security adviser resigned after revelations that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the US before Trump took office and misled Vice-President Mike Pence about the conversations.
MAY
JAMES COMEY
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome, was fired by Trump on May 9.
MICHAEL DUBKE
Resigned as White House Communications director on May 18.
JULY
SEAN SPICER
Resigned as White House press secretary on July 21, ending a turbulent tenure after Trump named Anthony Scaramucci as the new White House communications director.
REINCE PRIEBUS
The beleaguered White House chief of staff was ousted by Trump on Friday after only six months on the job. He was replaced by retired General John Kelly.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI
The White House communications chief was removed from his position by the president on Monday (July 31), just 10 days after he was brought into the West Wing. He had unloaded a crude verbal tirade against other senior members of the president's senior staff, such as chief strategist Steve Bannon.
AUGUST
STEPHEN BANNON
President Donald Trump's chief strategist Stephen Bannon was fired on Friday (Aug 18), a year and a day after Trump hired him as his campaign chief for the presidential election. Bannon was a driving force behind Trump's nationalist and anti-globalisation agenda. He was instrumental in contentious policy moves including the ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries, abandoning the Paris climate accord, tearing up international trade agreements and cracking down on illegal immigration.
SEPTEMBER
TOM PRICE
Tom Price, the health and human services secretary, resigned under pressure on Friday (Sept 29), after racking up at least US$400,000 (S$543,000) in travel bills for chartered flights and undermining President Donald Trump's promise to drain the swamp of a corrupt and entitled capital. Already in trouble with Trump for months of unsuccessful efforts to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care programme, Price failed to defuse the Trump's anger by offering regret and a partial reimbursement.
