The Air Force secretary nominee said she will examine the issue of service members using President Donald Trump’s properties amid a controversy over airmen spending the night at Trump’s luxury Turnberry resort in Scotland.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked Barbara Barrett during her Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing to commit to carrying out a servicewide policy that would bar service members from staying at Trump properties.
But Barrett declined to say she would prohibit the practice, instead saying that she would look at implementing “generic rules and regulations that look at the best value.”
Pressed by Blumenthal to promise to issue a prohibition, Barrett said, “I’ll take a look at it.”
Blumenthal said he hoped Barrett would provide a clearer answer to the committee before she is confirmed.
POLITICO reported that more than 60 airmen have stayed at Turnberry after stopping at Scotland’s Prestwick Airport, which has an agreement with the resort. A senator has called for a Defense Department inspector general investigation into the practice, and House Oversight Committee Democrats have threatened to subpoena Pentagon officials after a June letter to DOD went unanswered.
The Air Force has said air crews followed the rules in refueling at Prestwick and staying at Turnberry.
Source: politico.com
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