(Washington, D.C.) When going to a superfluous conference of international bureaucrats talking about tobacco products while on the U.S. taxpayers’ dime, why not live it up?

Travel records obtained by The Functional Government Initiative (FGI) reveal that a former FDA official appointed to his senior role under the Biden administration used government travel funds to stay at a luxury hotel during a World Health Organization (WHO) conference that was not on the recommended hotel list to event delegates by the WHO.

An invoice sent by then Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center For Tabacco Products (CTP) Director Brian King from the U.S. federal government travel authorization site CONCURGOV showed that he stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Panama hotel from February 4 to February 10, 2024, while he was in the country for the WHO’s Framework Convention On Tobacco Control in Panama City.[1]

The Waldorf Astoria Panama was not among the seven Panama City hotels that were recommended by the WHO for conference attendees. [2] King’s room was more expensive than all but one of the rooms included on the recommended hotel list.

The most expensive room offered on the event program’s recommended hotel list was a “Deluxe Executive” room at the Hotel Las Américas Golden Tower that cost $155 per night. The second most expensive room was the RIU Plaza Panamá that cost $145 per night.

The invoice obtained by FGI revealed that King was charged $154 per night, from Sunday, February 4 to his check-out day on Saturday, February 10, with the entire stay costing $1,016.40. King’s room selection was just about equal to the most expensive room listed by the conference.

What’s more is that the FGI documents revealed that King and fellow Health and Human Service officials were sent emails designating that they’d be staying at the RIU Plaza Panamá hotel. [3] The rooms were cheaper there than at the luxury hotel where King opted to stay.

Roderick Law, spokesman for FGI, issued the following statement:

“U.S. officials travelling on government business do so at the expense of the American people. Humility and probity demand officials take that seriously. Going off-list to a top-of-the-line hotel when others are recommended for less shows a serious lack of concern for the folks paying the bill.”

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[1] https://functionalgovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/77/2026/02/2024-3006-Responsive-Records_Redacted.pdf.zip, Pg. 14

[2] Pgs. 83 and 84

[3] Pg. 9