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After months of criticism of her penchant for first-class travel, Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary has declared she will stop gallivanting internationally at public expense. Taxpayers, rejoice.

O’Leary has gone in style, enjoying the best plane seats and upscale hotels. Her trips to South Africa, India and other exotic destinations have cost millions. Her entourages have included as many as 63, both staffers and American business leaders. Some of those executives reimbursed the government, but some did not.

A congressional inquiry, though motivated in part by partisan politics, seeks to determine the extent and consequences of O’Leary’s junkets. The cost of her excesses are being blamed by some Energy Department employees for furloughing of workers and a freeze on merit-pay bonuses. Those cost-containment steps may be related more to congressional budget cuts and the federal government’s overall austerity than to O’Leary’s prolific jet-setting. But even so, her indulgent travels must be galling to the furloughed workers--and to taxpayers who ultimately pay for her perks.

O’Leary has racked up more frequent flier miles during her 14 overseas trips, and more expensive hotel bills during her 130 days of international travel, than any other Cabinet member who deals mainly with domestic issues. And for what public purpose? She insists she was drumming up business for U.S. firms. Surely some of that drumming could have been done from Washington. While questions linger, O’Leary should remain grounded.