Buttigieg’s Time Wasting Taxpayer Money Is Up

July 6, 2023

The hypocrisy of the eco-left’s love for private jets is finally coming back to bite them. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has long wasted taxpayer money on private jet flights and a new Senate Republican bill is aiming to put a stop to it. 

Fox News reports, “‘Secretary Buttigieg seems averse to traveling on the very commercial airlines that his department oversees. It’s far past time that Secretary Buttigieg travel commercially instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on private jet flights,’ [said] Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. ‘It will also fix a loophole to bring more transparency in reporting the costs of these flights,’ Schmitt added.” 

Buttigieg’s office deceptively justifies this travel by using a cost-calculating policy that makes officials’ travel cost appear cheaper than it was according to Sen. Schmitt’s office. The proposed legislation would only allow DOT officials to fly private in times of emergency or if the flight would cost at least 5% less than the commercial alternative.

Schmitt told Fox News, “he hopes the bill will ‘make Secretary Buttigieg consider the most fiscally responsible option when flying on official business.’”

After the DOT’s Inspector General announced he would be looking into the flights earlier this year, Buttigieg tweeted, “‘Glad this will be reviewed independently so misleading narratives can be put to rest. Bottom line: I mostly fly on commercial flights, in economy class. And when I do use our agency’s aircraft, it’s usually a situation where doing so saves taxpayer money.’”

We hope this legislation will finally bring to light the abuse of taxpayer dollars from within the DOT and put a stop to it.