Buttigieg and his husband caught chartering military jet to international sports event
How is this for a scandal?
Fox Digital reports that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has chartered a military jet for his trip to an international sports event:
EXCLUSIVE: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Europe on a military aircraft to attend the Fifth Invictus Games with his husband Chasten Buttigieg last spring, according to an internal calendar reviewed by Fox News Digital.
On April 15, Buttigieg traveled from Joint Base Andrews to Rotterdam, Netherlands, via "MilAir Flight" before returning two days later on military aircraft, the calendar obtained by Americans for Public Trust (APT) and shared with Fox News Digital showed. According to photos from the event and media reports, the transportation secretary traveled to the Netherlands with his husband.
Which is indeed a scandal, as well as a hypocrisy-fest, for multiple reasons. He couldn't take commercial for a project like that if for nothing else to demonstrate that commercial flights are operating smoothly/ Sure, he's going as an official, but he should have waited for a government jet for his undoubtedly huge delegation, not snap his fingers at the military for quick service to him and his husband, or get the roundheels Bidenite White House to sign off on his many trips on private jets.
Fox noted that President Trump's former Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price, was forced out of his job for the exact same kind of travel, jumping on military jets, taking the spouse along, as well as taking private planes around the country, for which he billed the government.
Remember this?
Here's a huffily outraged CBS report on the Price exit, dated Sept. 27, 2017:
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price is out of a job amid intense scrutiny for his use of private charter planes.
Price "offered his resignation earlier today and the president accepted," a statement by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday afternoon. The president intends to designate Don J. Wright to serve as acting secretary, the statement went on to say. He's currently deputy assistant HHS secretary.
Price's tenure in the Trump administration lasted less than eight months.
Trump did seem to have a role in ousting Price for this jet travel matter, which outraged Democrats, but the CBS report suggested that the real reason for the Price ouster was that Trump was unhappy about Price's inability to persuade Congress to get rid of Obamacare.
In other words, he didn't do the job Trump hired him for.
How's Pete Buttigieg doing as transportation secretary, keeping the skies friendly?
He's been AWOL for years now, first on the supply chain shortage, which includes a critical baby formula shortage that's worsening, and now the huge airline travel snarls, which has led to flight delays and passenger frustrations. The only thing Buttigieg has done on that has been to blame the airlines themselves for the hellish conditions he failed to correct. He hasn't made anyone's life easier on jet travel, which is now a miserable experience. He's just made sure he hasn't had to endure any of it by using those convenient military aircraft at his beck and call.
What's Joe Biden's attitude on that? Any possibility Joe Biden would ever fire Buttigieg for the military jet misuse for trivial things like sports events, the way President Trump effectively fired Price?
No, because Biden doesn't particularly care if anyone in his cabinet does his job, not if it makes the lives of consumers and taxpayers easier, at least. Based on Biden's record in the White House on multiple matters, that's not a priority.
So Pete will jet and jet as he is now doing, commissioning the military to get him to the Netherlands with his husband in full comfort and convenience, the military now at his beck and call.
Tom Price was required to repay the government for his wife's travel on those jets -- is Pete's husband Chasten paying back the government for the same perk? Be nice if Fox or someone decided to find out.
But even if Joe lets this misuse of military aircraft for personal and trite govenrment reasons go on because, well, he's Incompetent Joe, the other problem is the hypocrisy of the matter.
Fox News linked to a stellar Dec. 12 broadcast segment on its "Outnumbered" show, led by host Kennedy, (clickable only here) pointing out the greenie pieties of Buttigieg, and his rampant use of private and government jets, husband in tow, for various travel odysseys of no government-business importance whatsoever, not deigning to fly commercial which is regulated by his own policies and made hellish as a result. He's a bit like the social media barons who refuse to open social media accounts, or the Pfizer employees who refuse to take its COVID-19 vaccine, both on the grounds that they know too much about it.
Buttigieg wants us out of our cars and out of our commercial jets, taking public transportation, shelling out $70K for electrical vehicles, or riding bikes as the greenie alternatives, but he reserves private and military jet travel for himself, having taken more than 18 trips on those comfy transport arrangements, with no delays at the airports, no Democrat luggage thieves to worry about, no lunatics having meltdowns in coach, no TSA agents demanding removal of one's shoes, no cramped legroom.
Hypocrite much, Pete?
Fox points out that he could be using these trips on the government dime as disguised campaign opportunities, given his presidential ambitions.
If so, it's one more reason for the incoming House in Congress to pull the plug on this, investigating just what those un-green trips were done for and how many relatives and cronies benefited from them as well. Buttigieg has mastered the art of hypocrisy while in office and taken many questionable trips. Let him be known for that given that he wants to take away every semblance of affordable and comfortable travel for the rest of us.
Image: PxHere // CC0 public domain
Reps. Mace, Van Duyne: Buttigieg 'Not Qualified'; Biden 'Basking' Amid Airline/Weather Crisis
(CNSNews.com) - Two Republican congresswoman had blunt words for President Joe Biden and his "unqualified" transportation secretary on Wednesday, as thousands of Southwest Airlines travelers remain stranded, separated from their luggage, or both.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said the weather-induced flight debacle hit close to home for her, as her teenage children "got stranded in Baltimore trying to make it home on Christmas Eve. And even today, five days later, we still don't know where their luggage is right now," Mace told Fox News on Wednesday night.
"This has impacted thousands upon thousands of people," she said.
"And I was disheartened and disappointed to hear the president -- basking in the Caribbean during this crisis -- could not be any more tone deaf right now. Because this has affected tens of thousands of people that can't get on trains, can't rent cars, can't recoup their flights to get home. They're stranded all across the country right now.
"I want to hear (Transportation Secretary) Pete Buttigieg say he's going to audit and figure out where the $7 billion went that Southwest received from American taxpayers. That's what I want to hear tonight."
Appearing with Mace, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) said, "It's not just that Biden that goes on vacation when he's most needed. You look at Buttigieg -- from the beginning, this guy was not qualified to take this job. He's a Cabinet secretary.
“And in his first year in the office, we were having tremendous supply chain issues, people can't get the supplies that they need, when businesses are going bankrupt, where is he? He takes two months off for paternity leave.
"Earlier this year, we had the rail strike, potential, looming over us. We were going to have, again, a massive amount of hit to our economy, you were going to have municipalities that couldn't get chemicals to be able to treat their water supply. And where was Pete? Oh, that's right. He was on a family vacation in Portugal. He could not be bothered not to go on vacation -- to postpone that for the American people.
"This is a man who was not qualified for the job, has never really been on the job. And we've trusted him with $1.2 trillion worth of taxpayer dollars, and you're seeing how he has just completely fallen on his face, time and time again."
Mace promised that the House Transportation and Oversight Committees, on which she sits, will "have lots of questions" for Buttigieg.
"He's going to have a lot to answer for when he comes to Congress.
“What is he doing with the taxpayer dollars that have been received, how are they being distributed. How is he going to hold Southwest accountable? And what you're seeing today is the federal government rewarding bad behavior by having a private company be bailed out and subsidized by the American taxpayer.
"So what is Pete Buttigieg going to do about it, besides hold a press conference?" she asked.
President Biden has not issued any statement or tweet on the Southwest Airlines meltdown. Buttigieg has promised to hold Southwest "accountable" for failing to live up to its written customer service plan.
Watch: Pete Buttigieg Told James Corden Airline Travel Would Be ‘Better By the Holidays’
Transportation Secretary told late-night comedian James Corden three months ago that airline travel would improve by the holiday season, a claim that does not appear to have been kept amid massive flight cancellations during the holiday.
According to a recent report from The Lever, federal officials share equal blame for the massive airline cancellations over the holiday season, a trend that began in the summer of 2022 and never seemed to improve. Chief among those responsible is none other than Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has reportedly yet to enforce some consumer protection policies on the airlines that have been abusing the people’s travel needs.
In September, roughly a week after he received a bipartisan letter from 38 state attorney generals across the country demanding his department do more to fix the problem, Buttigieg said the situation would improve come Christmas when comedian James Corden pressed him on the topic.
“I think it’s going to get better by the holidays. We’re really pressing the airlines to deliver better service. So many people have been delayed, been canceled. It has happened to me,” he said.
Watch below:
“The good news is people are going back to the skies. They have the income. They have the inclination. We’ve put off holidays, we’ve put off trips for two years, we’re finally doing it again, which is great. But, we need to make sure that the system is ready,” he added. “If you’ve ever been mistreated by an airline. If they haven’t given you the refund they owe you, if they haven’t lived up to their customer service obligations, we will have your back.”
Pete Buttigieg said that the government created a website to hold the airlines accountable, adding that most agreed to refund customers in the event of a flight cancellation as well as provide hotels and meal vouchers.
“When they actually fail to live up to the rules, there’s serious enforcement behind that and we want to know if that’s happened to you,” he concluded.
The holiday travel period has been plagued by a winter storm and thousands of delayed and cancelled flights, the majority of which have occurred at Southwest Airlines. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
As the report from The Lever noted, few to none of Buttigieg’s promises materialized by the Christmas travel season, with Southwest Airlines being the biggest culprit stranding thousands of Americans. In September, for instance, the anti-monopoly think tank American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) noted that the department had yet to issue a single fine against the more politically powerful airlines.
“The Department of Transportation has announced a rule on refunds that won’t take effect for at least 2-3 years, sent the airline CEOs a letter, and promised to unveil an information dashboard,” wrote the AELP. “It has yet to fine any U.S. airline a single dollar for unpaid refunds, flight cancellations, or systematic violations of consumer protection law, and has issued fewer enforcement orders in 2021 than in any single year of the Trump and Obama administrations.”
“The good news is people are going back to the skies. They have the income. They have the inclination. We’ve put off holidays, we’ve put off trips for two years, we’re finally doing it again, which is great. But, we need to make sure that the system is ready,” he added. “If you’ve ever been mistreated by an airline. If they haven’t given you the refund they owe you, if they haven’t lived up to their customer service obligations, we will have your back.”
Pete Buttigieg said that the government created a website to hold the airlines accountable, adding that most agreed to refund customers in the event of a flight cancellation as well as provide hotels and meal vouchers.
“When they actually fail to live up to the rules, there’s serious enforcement behind that and we want to know if that’s happened to you,” he concluded.
The holiday travel period has been plagued by a winter storm and thousands of delayed and cancelled flights, the majority of which have occurred at Southwest Airlines. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
As the report from The Lever noted, few to none of Buttigieg’s promises materialized by the Christmas travel season, with Southwest Airlines being the biggest culprit stranding thousands of Americans. In September, for instance, the anti-monopoly think tank American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) noted that the department had yet to issue a single fine against the more politically powerful airlines.
“The Department of Transportation has announced a rule on refunds that won’t take effect for at least 2-3 years, sent the airline CEOs a letter, and promised to unveil an information dashboard,” wrote the AELP. “It has yet to fine any U.S. airline a single dollar for unpaid refunds, flight cancellations, or systematic violations of consumer protection law, and has issued fewer enforcement orders in 2021 than in any single year of the Trump and Obama administrations.”
Pete Buttigieg Ignored State Attorneys General Warnings on Holiday Airline Travel
President Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has ignored state attorneys general’s repeated requests to protect consumers and hold airlines accountable for canceling flights in the months leading up to the ongoing holiday travel fiasco.
This Christmas holiday travel season has been plagued with thousands of flight cancelations, primarily by Southwest Airlines, which failed to regain its footing after a massive winter storm hit the U.S.
While Buttigieg faces increased scrutiny to penalize airlines like Southwest for the thousands of cancelled flights, this holiday season is not the first time Buttigieg has been urged to hold airlines accountable.
For example, over the summer, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sent Buttigieg a letter that warned of “the deeply troubling and escalating pattern of airlines delaying and canceling flights” during holiday flight seasons. James wrote:
Airlines have attributed cancellations to staffing shortages, particularly due to a purported shortage of airline pilots. Yet, as you have acknowledged, the pilot shortage is due in large part to actions taken by the airlines forcing pilots into early retirement or otherwise shrinking their pilot pool.
A few weeks after James’s letter, a coalition of 38 bipartisan state attorneys general sent a letter to Congressional leaders that accused the Department of Transportation of facilitating an environment that “allows airlines to mistreat consumers and leaves consumers without effective redress.”
“If state attorneys general had a substantial and meaningful role in overseeing airline consumer protection, the failure of the US DOT would be ameliorated by the ability of state attorneys general to enforce the law,” the state attorneys general wrote.
Over the summer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also sent a letter to Buttigieg and Transportation Department General Counsel John Putnam urging the agency to “fully utilize its statutory authority to protect consumers and promote competition in the airline industry.”
Despite these repeated requests, Buttigieg’s Transportation Department failed to take meaningful action that would have prevented the ongoing holiday travel fiasco.
Instead, Buttigieg appeared on television in early September and claimed that airline travel “is going to get better by the holidays.” Buttigieg also told talk show host James Corden that the Transportation Department is “really pressing the airlines to deliver better service.”
Still, state officials urged Buttigieg to take action as recently as December.
A coalition of 34 state attorneys general led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) called on Buttigieg to “impose significant fines for cancellations and extended delays that are not weather-related or otherwise unavoidable.” Weiser said:
As many Coloradans are planning to travel during the holidays and looking forward to seeing loved ones, now is a good time to remind USDOT that it has the opportunity to hold airlines accountable when they mistreat consumers, helping add ease to consumers’ future travel plans and lessen unexpected financial burdens.
Buttigieg has yet to impose any fines on Southwest Airlines for the more than 3,000 flights canceled since Christmas.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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