Pete Buttigieg Keeps His Wings as Congress Downs Bill Over Travel Allowance: Ten Republicans helped Democrats beat back an effort to clip Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s wings.
The House of Representatives defeated an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization bill offered by Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., by a 219-216 margin. The legislation would have required Pete Buttigieg to report his flight records publicly.
Those voting against the legislation included: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and GOP Reps. Troy Balderson, Jack Bergman, Brian Fitzpatrick, Garret Graves, David Joyce, Jennifer Kiggans, Marcus Molinaro, and Brandon Williams.
“Earlier this morning, Rep. Balderson submitted paperwork to the Clerk of the House to inform her that his intended vote was ‘AYE’, in favor of government transparency and reining in out-of-control spending,” Balderson spokesman Kyle Chance told Fox News Digital.
Pete Buttigieg Takes Flak for Travel Expenses
Pete Buttigieg faced serious concerns on Capitol Hill in the wake of a watchdog group’s report that he made excessive use of government aircraft when cheaper commercial flights were available.
“We are disappointed that Representative Miller’s important amendment failed,” Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director for watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT), told Fox News Digital. “After Secretary Pete Buttigieg was caught excessively using a taxpayer-funded private jet, his department doubled down and is refusing to release the true cost of these flights.”
Sutherland continued: “That’s why we’re suing the FAA because it is the right of the American people to have these records and they deserve transparency.”
APT brought the issue to light earlier this year. It found that Buttigieg had taken 18 flights using taxpayer-funded jets between early 2021 and last Fall. The Washington Post reported that the flight costs were $41,905.20 based on Transportation Department numbers.
“Everyday Americans have faced unprecedented flight cancelations and disruptions, but Buttigieg has continued to fly private, even on a Coast Guard plane and even when commercial options were readily available,” APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
Hill Pressure Leads to Investigation
The Transportation Department’s Inspector General launched an investigation in February in response to a complaint by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, also raised the issue of Buttigieg’s use of government planes in a January letter.
“These include flights to what some describe as a list of presidential swing states, as well as a flight to New York for a radio interview and two brief meetings, one with the president of the ACLU and another with DOT employees. It is difficult to see how these trips, and perhaps others, required use of expensive non-commercial travel. For example, many commercial travel options exist between Washington and New York. Moreover, radio interviews presumably can be done by calling in to the program or picked up a phone to talk to, create questions about whether you really required the use of a private jet, especially as you call on Americans to sacrifice to reduce carbon emission,” Grassley wrote.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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