Just when it seemed like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg couldn’t take any more action–or in this case inaction–to torpedo his presidential ambitions, the Ohio train derailment occurs.
The East Palestine derailment itself is not his fault of course. But the response of the Department of Transportation–and other federal agencies–has been sorely lacking.
The trainwreck metaphor is applicable to Mayor Pete’s entire tenure in the Biden administration Cabinet. It’s a horrible site, but difficult to turn away from.
It took him 10 days for him to comment on the Ohio disaster, while he found time to complain about too many white construction workers.
He more recently said he would visit East Palestine, eventually, only after former President Donald Trump announced plans to go. Secretary Pete took a swipe at the former president.
“I don’t know what he’s planning to do there,” Buttigieg said. “I do know that we have work to do that we’ve been underway on from day one of this situation, and while you know the politics will come and go and the grandstanding will come and go, we will be there for the long haul to make sure that this community is supported, and to make sure that there is more accountability for the railroad industry in this country.”
No, it’s not clear what Trump is supposed to do there. But what’s clear is that the Norfolk Southern disaster was custom-made for Trump circa 2016, who won by running against a detached, incompetent Washington that was hopeless in dealing with the problems of the so-called forgotten Americans. The public wasn’t sure Trump alone could fix things, as he claimed, but they sure as heck knew the guys in charge couldn’t.
Pete Buttigieg, as mayor of South Bend, Indiana in 2020, was about as much a Washington outsider as they come when he ran for president. He definitely punched above his weight as a presidential candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary. But now, he has come to epitomize the broken down, ineptitude of Washington.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency certainly did their part if buttressing the problems with D.C. But Buttigieg has largely become of the face of the administration’s poor response to this tragedy.
“I have followed the normal practice of transportation secretaries in the early days after a crash, allowing NTSB to lead the safety work and staying out of their way,” the secretary said. “But I am very eager to have conversations with people in East Palestine about how this has impacted them.”
That seems an aloof, bureaucratic way of saying, yeah, I’ll get to it when I get to it.
Not that a visit is the end-all. I would sometimes prefer politicians not to show up for photo ops at every disaster–and focus more on fixing the disaster. The problem here is that if DOT and other federal agencies had done their job, Buttigieg’s public lack of empathy would hardly be noticed.
Instead, we are treated to a nightly image of dead animals and motionless fish floating in the water as federal agencies say everything is perfectly normal.
From a political angle, this is the cumulative effect of failures. This job wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. It was supposed to polish his resume for another White House campaign. Secretaries of transportation are supposed to be low-level officials. He likely thought he’d spend four years talking about electric vehicles and infrastructure.
Instead, he faced an unexpected supply chain crisis shortly after entering office. At the end of 2022, during the Christmas holiday season, he was consumed with coverage of the massive flight delays. Perhaps making him seem even more out-of-touch, he reportedly took at least 18 taxpayer-funded private jet flights since taking office.
Further, electric cars were the source of one of his biggest gaffes,
“The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles,” Buttigieg told the House Transportation Committee.
On Monday he issued a statement regarding East Palestine, with a populist attack on the railroad companies.
“Profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people,” he said. “We at USDOT are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same – while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar.”
But it’s likely too late–politically speaking at least–to start acting like a tough guy after keeping a low profile on the derailment for so long.
His presidential dreams are a mess barring any massive accomplishment.
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Barbara Joanna Lucas is a writer and researcher in Northern Virginia. She has been a healthcare professional, political blogger, is a proud dog mom, and news junkie. Follow her on Twitter @BasiaJL.
