CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper grilled Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday about the administration&#8217;s controversial handling of the Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the U.S. over the last several days.
Buttigieg made the remarks during an interview broadcast on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union.&#8221; Tapper wanted to know why the spy balloon was not shot down nearly two weeks ago when it was first detected over Alaskan air space.
Buttigieg responded by claiming that it was about safety.
&#8220;Is it acceptable that there were eight days that the spy balloon was over the United States, then Canada, then again over the United States, from Idaho, Montana, all the way through the Carolinas for day after day?&#8221; Tapper asked.
Buttigieg responded, &#8220;In terms of how to handle it, that&#8217;s something that was done based on assessment of the risks, making sure that there was no risks that outweighed the risks in terms of any damage that would come, and it was handled appropriately.&#8221;
Tapper noted that the spy balloon might have been able to gather intelligence as it flew over numerous U.S. military bases and nuclear ballistic missile fields.
&#8220;When did the Biden administration first learn about this balloon, this spy balloon, entering U.S. airspace?&#8221; Tapper asked. &#8220;We&#8217;re told it first did so, it first entered U.S. airspace over Alaska two Saturdays ago. Is that when the Biden administration learned about it?&#8221;
Buttigieg did not answer the question, saying,  &#8220;I really can&#8217;t speak to that.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sec. Pete Buttigieg tells Jake Tapper that it was “appropriate” that Biden administration waited eight days to shoot down a Chinese Spy Baloon that hovered over multiple Aid Force Bases. <a href="https://t.co/mhkvc3H9IZ">pic.twitter.com/mhkvc3H9IZ</a>
&mdash; The Sly Show🇺🇲 (@theslyshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/theslyshow/status/1622267060733743104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Glad to be with you.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, the &#8212; this suspected Chinese spy alone entered U.S. airspace eight days ago, two Saturdays ago, in Alaska. Once it became clear that this was not an accident, why did the U.S. not shoot it down then?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, again, the president gave instructions to have it handled, to have it shot down in a way that was safe.
As, you may have seen, there&#8217;s reporting now that the debris field that was created by this balloon when it was shot down was about seven miles&#8217; long. And so any time the military is considering an operation like that, they have to consider the safety of the American people.
The president called for this to be dealt with in a way that balanced all of the different risks. That&#8217;s exactly what happened. The military did a terrific job. From our perspective in the DOT, of course, our main concern is the safety of the national airspace.
This thing was above where flight operations happen, and so any debris would have passed through that national airspace. Look, the FAA works very closely with the Pentagon, in this case, had to do ground stops on those airports on the Eastern Seaboard, close off some of the airspace to make sure that everything was safe and secure during the operation.
And, as you know, the operation took place without any damage or injury to any American lives or property.
TAPPER: Obviously, that&#8217;s great that there were no Americans hurt by this.
But is it acceptable that there were eight days that the spy sat &#8212; spy balloon was over the United States, then Canada, then again over the United States, from Idaho, Montana, all the way through the Carolinas for day after day?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, as the U.S. has communicated, it&#8217;s not acceptable at all that China sent this object into our airspace.
But in terms of how to handle it, that&#8217;s something that was done based on assessment of the risks, making sure that there was no risks that outweighed the risks in terms of any damage that would come, and it was handled appropriately.
TAPPER: So, you say there was a seven-mile debris field over the Atlantic Ocean where it was shot down.
Can you tell us what, if anything, has been able to be recovered? Obviously, there&#8217;s a lot of interest in getting the material, getting the debris and being able to conduct intelligence operations of our own, of the United States&#8217; own, against the Chinese for this balloon.
BUTTIGIEG: I really can&#8217;t. And anything on the tactics and the timing and the manner of it ultimately, of course, comes to the Pentagon.
I&#8217;m just glad that there was no damage or threat to U.S. aviation operations, and that this operation took place, was done in a very effective, excellent way, as you would expect from the American military, without any consequences for Americans on the ground.
TAPPER: So, obviously, there are a lot of concerns being expressed by senators and governors. The balloon may have flown and gathered intelligence over sensitive parts of the United States&#8217; infrastructure.
There&#8217;s Malmstrom Air Force Base and nuclear ballistic missile fields in Montana, if you look at the map there, Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Is the assumption that the balloon was able to gather sensitive information and transmit it back to the Chinese government?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, the U.S. has stated that steps were taken to prevent any problems in terms of intelligence collection.
Remember, we are talking about a country that has a space program. So, I don&#8217;t know all the ins and outs of what this balloon was doing or what its capabilities were. I do know that, when the president gave the order to have this handled, the military gauged the different risks and the different benefits of different approaches, made the decisions that they did, brought this thing down without incident.
TAPPER: Right.
But the presumption has got to be that the Chinese were able to gather intelligence hovering over the United States for day after day, especially over some of these sensitive sites.
BUTTIGIEG: I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s a similar presumption about what spy satellites do. That is well outside of my lane. I&#8217;m just glad that nobody was hurt as this thing came down.
TAPPER: When did the Biden administration first learn about this balloon, this spy balloon, entering U.S. airspace?
We&#8217;re told it first did so, it first entered U.S. airspace over Alaska two Saturdays ago. Is that when the Biden administration learned about it?
BUTTIGIEG: I really can&#8217;t speak to that.
What I can speak to is the great cooperation we have between the FAA and the Pentagon to make sure that, when you have a special military operation like what it took to bring down this balloon, that it happens without any threat to American luxury property.
TAPPER: Lastly, on this topic, will there be consequences beyond shooting it down? Will the Chinese government be &#8212; sanctions &#8212; or sanctioned or penalized in any way?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, the U.S. has made clear this is an unacceptable intrusion into American sovereignty.
And I think you can expect that any further developments will be in &#8212; appropriate in response to what happened.
TAPPER: So, President Biden is going to be delivering the State of the Union address on Tuesday. He&#8217;s going to have a new person sitting behind him, the new Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
Anything President Biden wants to get done over the next two years, other than the executive actions, will have to go through Kevin McCarthy. Should we expect the president to lay out a long list of things that are never going to happen under a House Republican leadership, or is it going to be about ways and places where Republicans and Democrats can work together, areas where there are common interests?
BUTTIGIEG: I&#8217;m really looking forward to the State of the Union, because, first of all, there are so many accomplishments to talk about. And many of those accomplishments happened on a bipartisan basis.
You remember, there was a lot of almost snickering when the president took office saying that it would be possible to deliver historic infrastructure legislation, historic economic legislation, and do it on a bipartisan basis. But that&#8217;s what happened.
And so I think the hand continues to be outstretched to anyone, including anyone across the aisle, who&#8217;s prepared to work with us to get things done. But let&#8217;s talk about what we have to show for that even just in the two years that the administration has been here, we just saw the latest round of job numbers that came out, record low unemployment, the lowest we have had in more than 50 years.
And, usually, when unemployment is that low, inflation is going up. Right now, inflation is going down, along with unemployment. We&#8217;re talking about the most jobs created under any president in this period, matter of fact, the president creating more jobs in two years than you have seen typically in four, and coupled with things that Republicans often say that is very important to them, like deficit reduction, historic reduction of the deficit, to the tune of $1.7 trillion under this president.
You look at what&#8217;s been done in two years, and I think the president is going to be going into the State of the Union speech with a context of extraordinary, historic accomplishment.
And with that, I think, is a wind at our back, even with a House that is now, of course, in the hands of the opposite party, to say, OK, what else can we get done for the benefit of the American people, first and foremost, to keep this extraordinary economic growth going, and then to deal with other priorities that matter to people, whether they are in red blue or purple areas?
TAPPER: So, just a few days ago, the chief of staff, Ron Klain, left the White House.
And in his farewell remarks, he referred to President Biden running for reelection in 2024. He will be 81 on Election Day in 2024. Republicans such as Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are already seeming to make a generational argument. Whether that&#8217;s aimed at Biden or Trump, it doesn&#8217;t really matter. They&#8217;re both in advanced years.
You made a similar generational argument when you were running against Joe Biden for president yourself. Are you worried that it could work in 2024?
BUTTIGIEG: Generational arguments can be powerful. As you said, I have used them myself.
The most powerful argument of all is results. And you can&#8217;t argue &#8212; at least, I would say you can&#8217;t argue with a straight face that it isn&#8217;t a good thing that we have had 12 million jobs created under this president. And, by the way, a lot of the jobs are in manufacturing.
As somebody who grew up in the Industrial Midwest, it&#8217;s been so moving to see hundreds of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs being created, including in rural areas, small towns in places like Tennessee and Louisiana, and Georgia and Indiana, the kind of growth that benefits the entire American people.
And I think, when you look at that, when you look at what America was up against when President Biden took office, and what has been delivered, again, just in these first two years of this administration, let alone what&#8217;s possible as we actually start entering more and more, for example, of the construction phase on the infrastructure law, I think those results are going to continue to accumulate and people will toss whatever argument they can into the mix that they think is going to benefit them the most.
But, at the end of the day, you can&#8217;t argue with the extraordinary accomplishments, more than almost any other modern president, that President Biden has achieved, again, under the toughest of circumstances.
TAPPER: Speaking of the Industrial Midwest, you recently moved from a Republican-leaning Industrial Midwest state, Indiana, to a Democratic- leaning Industrial Midwest state, Michigan.
Senator Debbie Stabenow announced that she is not going to be running for reelection. You and your husband and two kids have residence in Michigan. Are you going to be seeking that Senate seat?
BUTTIGIEG: No. But I really&#8230;
TAPPER: No, you&#8217;re not, period?
BUTTIGIEG: I&#8217;m planning to vote in that election as a resident of Michigan.
But, look, the job that I have is, first of all, I think the best job in the federal government. It can be really tough and demanding, with all of the problems that the transportation system has confronted, but also incredibly rewarding.
And I&#8217;m proud to be part of an administration that is doing more on transportation than has happened in my lifetime, and then some. Not since the Eisenhower administration have we had this much going on in terms of fixing roads and bridges in this country. Not since Amtrak was created have we done more to improve rail service in this country.
This job is taking 110 percent of my time. And, obviously, I serve at the pleasure of the president. But as long as he is willing to have me continue doing this work, I&#8217;m proud to be part of this team.
TAPPER: All right, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, thanks for being here this morning.
BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. It&#8217;s a pleasure.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/south-american-nation-detects-another-possible-chinese-spy-balloon">South American Nation Detects Another Possible Chinese Spy Balloon</a>

Conference Of Mayors Held In Washington, DC

Jake Tapper Grills Pete Buttigieg Over Biden’s Handling Of Chinese Spy Balloon

Jake Tapper Grills Pete Buttigieg Over Biden's Handling Of Chinese Spy Balloon

Balloon

China

Communist China

Global Politics

Jake Tapper

Pete Buttigieg

Politics

Agriculture Secretary <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tom-vilsack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tom-vilsack" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">Tom Vilsack</a> never attended meetings of the task force he co-chaired to help resolve the nation’s <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">supply chain</a> woes, according to a public records request from the Functional Government Institute.
A public records request from the Functional Government Institute revealed that the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, created by the White House two years ago, suffered from nonexistent leadership. The Agriculture Department only produced 19 pages of <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2022-OSEC-04513-F-Responsive_Redacted.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">records</a> related to the entity after five months and a federal lawsuit from the Functional Government Institute; 14 of the pages were copied from public statements about the initiative, and none of the records provided evidence that Vilsack or his deputies attended any meetings.
“As the administration rightly recognized in creating the Task Force, supply chain issues threaten the economic and national security of the country,” Functional Government Institute Spokesman Peter McGinnis said in a <a href="https://functionalgovernment.org/usda-secretary-vilsacks-leadership-of-the-supply-chain-task-force-all-hat-and-no-cattle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “Secretary Vilsack’s failure to convene a single meeting with his fellow leaders, while dedicating federal resources to investigate and blame the private sector, shows that the Task Force was little more than a cynical attempt to signal engagement on supply chain disruptions while, in fact, doing little or nothing.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were also named co-chairs of the task force, according to a June 2021 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/08/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-supply-chain-disruptions-task-force-to-address-short-term-supply-chain-discontinuities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the White House, which added that the officials would focus on bottlenecked products such as construction materials, semiconductors, and food supplies. Vilsack said in another <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/06/08/usda-invest-more-4-billion-strengthen-food-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> that he was eager to “mobilize a whole-of-government effort to address the short-term supply challenges our country faces as it recovers.”
The Functional Government Institute noted that Buttigieg’s calendars during his two-month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-has-been-on-paid-leave-for-months-amid-supply-chain-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paternity leave</a> likewise show he did not participate in any meetings for the initiative. More recently, Buttigieg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-vacationed-in-posh-european-tourist-destination-as-rail-unions-neared-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vacationed</a> in Portugal as the possibility of a nationwide rail strike loomed at the end of last year.
Lockdowns and public health mandates imposed by many governments across the world fostered unpredictable supply chain shocks, contributing to inflation in many countries. Sectors impacted most severely by foreign bottleneck exposure, such as automotive manufacturing, textiles, and basic metals, also witnessed the most potent inflationary pressures, according to an <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/economic-synopses/2022/05/12/supply-chain-disruptions-and-inflation-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The creation of the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force occurred after industry leaders pressed the Biden administration to offer “strong leadership” in addressing the crisis. “The supply chain disruption issues, especially the congestion affecting our key maritime ports, are causing significant challenges for America’s retailers,” National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay wrote in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-need-strong-leadership-executives-beg-biden-to-fix-supply-chain-issues" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to President Joe Biden. “As the administration undergoes supply chain reviews for critical sectors, including transportation, addressing the current state of our nation’s ports and freight movement needs to be a critical component of the strategy.”
Biden administration officials have nevertheless taken credit for partial mitigation in price level increases. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently remarked that “we continue to see improvement in supply chains” during an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-says-inflation-has-been-quite-moderate-quite-low-for-the-last-six-months" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with NPR and claimed that inflation “has really been quite moderate, quite low for the last six months or so,” even as price increases remain well above the 2% annual rate seen before the lockdown-induced recession.

US-POLITICS-HARRIS-SPACE

Top Biden Officials Responsible For Leading Supply Chain Task Force Never Even Showed Up To Meetings: Report

Vilsack, Buttigieg Absent From Supply Chain Task Force Meetings As Economy Languished

Biden Administration

Economy

Inflation

Supply Chain

Tom Vilsack

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-aviation-administration-faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Aviation Administration</a> (FAA) announced on Thursday evening that the system outage that grounded <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flights</a> nationwide last week was caused by contractors unintentionally deleting files.
All flights across the United States were grounded early on January 11 as the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system unexpectedly failed, producing backlash against the agency and Transportation Secretary <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/pete-buttigieg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Buttigieg</a>. Officials determined that “contract personnel unintentionally deleted files while working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database,” according to a <a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-notam-statement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the FAA.
“The agency has so far found no evidence of a cyber-attack or malicious intent. The FAA continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outage,” the statement continued. “The FAA made the necessary repairs to the system and has taken steps to make the NOTAM system more resilient. The agency is acting quickly to adopt any other lessons learned in our efforts to ensure the continuing robustness of the nation’s air traffic control system.”
Officials had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/officials-reveal-alleged-cause-of-faas-system-going-down-causing-flights-to-be-grounded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on the evening of January 11 that they would begin a “thorough review” to determine the cause of the outage but shared that there was “no evidence of a cyber attack.”
The outages last week led to several hundred cancellations and thousands of delays in a blow to the airline industry and countless individual travelers. A <a href="https://www.ustravel.org/press/us-travel-faa-system-failure-must-spur-federal-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman exhorted lawmakers to modernize the nation’s infrastructure.
“Today’s FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that America’s transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades,” he remarked. “Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure. And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently.”
The disruptions occurred shortly after severe winter weather prompted nationwide delays and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancellations</a> for Southwest Airlines during the hectic Christmas travel season. The company nixed some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31, according to a <a href="https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?Type=html&amp;FilingId=16303107&amp;CIK=0000092380&amp;Index=10000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a> submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which indicated that total losses from the fallout are expected to cost the firm between $725 million and $825 million.
Democratic lawmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-sanders-ro-khanna-tear-into-pete-buttigieg-over-southwest-airlines-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> Buttigieg for his alleged failure to prevent mass delays and cancellations at Southwest Airlines. Commentators have argued that the former presidential candidate was hired by the Biden administration because of his identification as a homosexual rather than his expertise in infrastructure policy.
The official previously took months of paid leave after he and his husband adopted twins even as a supply chain crisis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-has-been-on-paid-leave-for-months-amid-supply-chain-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hamstrung</a> the economy. He was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-vacationed-in-posh-european-tourist-destination-as-rail-unions-neared-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caught</a> vacationing in Portugal as the possibility of a nationwide rail strike loomed last year and reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-took-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-trumps-hhs-sec-was-forced-to-resign-for-doing-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> taxpayer-funded private jets at least 18 times since assuming office, despite his support for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-explains-to-texans-why-they-should-buy-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policies</a> that seek to address climate change on a national level.
The FAA also received <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/faas-woke-garbage-resurfaces-after-computer-issues-ground-planes-nationwide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> after a variety of diversity initiatives resurfaced online, showing that top regulators had spent hours implementing inclusive terminology reforms. The agency <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1476252009728823298" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hosted</a> an online “inclusive language summit” in November 2021 that lasted for more than two hours, while a similar <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1506691929475411969" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> in March 2022 lasted for over an hour.

FAA Reveals More Details On System Outage That Grounded Flights Nationwide

Air and Space

Air Travel

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

U.S.

Endorsements of left-wing <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/lgbtq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ideology</a> from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-aviation-administration-faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Aviation Administration</a> resurfaced online as the agency received backlash for a downed computer system that caused all flights across the country to be grounded early Wednesday.
FAA officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/officials-reveal-alleged-cause-of-faas-system-going-down-causing-flights-to-be-grounded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> later in the day that the outage occurred due to a “damaged database file” and claimed there was “no evidence of a cyber attack.”
Comprehensive efforts from top FAA officials to adopt tenets of the LGBTQ movement into the agency’s operations started to circulate on social media in the hours after flights were grounded, reviving criticism among those who argue that the Biden administration has advanced policies and <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/progressives-demand-biden-pick-supreme-court-nominee-based-on-race-and-sex-select-first-black-female-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/news/progressives-demand-biden-pick-supreme-court-nominee-based-on-race-and-sex-select-first-black-female-justice" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">made hires</a> to advance diversity goals rather than optimize performance.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepAndyBiggsAZ/status/1613211295787978755" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> on social media that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his associates have “focused on woke garbage” rather than promoting the stability of the aerospace system. Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk likewise <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1613193226244222978" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> the FAA of neglecting to “keep our planes in the air” as officials pursued “wokeness.”
The agency <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1476252009728823298" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hosted</a> an online “inclusive language summit” in November 2021 that lasted for more than two hours, while a similar <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1506691929475411969" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> in March 2022 lasted for over an hour.
“Aerospace is for everyone, and the language we use matters,” the FAA said in a social media post. “We launched an agency-wide initiative to adopt gender-neutral and inclusive aviation terminology.”
Former FAA Administrator Steve Dickson remarked in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBcmu93RJ8g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> posted in December 2021 that the agency would “promote the use” of gender-neutral language “throughout the aerospace field.” Among other moves, Dickson said that the “Notice to Airmen” system, which caused the outages on Wednesday, would be renamed to the “Notice to Air Missions” system.
Ginny Boyle, who works as the vice president of system operations services, participated in a June 2022 <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1542583832142127104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> commemorating “pride month.” She discussed her experience raising children with her wife and lamented that the FAA does not track how many employees are members of the “LGBTQI+” community.
“I have been able to raise these concerns with leadership to find a way to capture part of the work force that chooses to identify. We do not know if we are moving the needle in any direction if we cannot measure it. I believe this is still a work in progress,” she said. “The more we learn about different cultures and struggles we can become more understanding and compassionate.”
Buttigieg has faced criticism from commentators who assert the Biden administration hired him because of his identification as a gay man rather than his expertise in infrastructure policy. The official previously took months of paid leave after he and his husband adopted twins even as the supply chain crisis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-has-been-on-paid-leave-for-months-amid-supply-chain-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hamstrung</a> the American economy. He was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-vacationed-in-posh-european-tourist-destination-as-rail-unions-neared-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caught</a> vacationing in Portugal as the specter of a nationwide rail strike loomed earlier this year and reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-took-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-trumps-hhs-sec-was-forced-to-resign-for-doing-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> taxpayer-funded private jets at least 18 times since assuming office, despite his support for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-explains-to-texans-why-they-should-buy-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policies</a> that seek to address climate change on a national level.
Democratic lawmakers also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-sanders-ro-khanna-tear-into-pete-buttigieg-over-southwest-airlines-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> Buttigieg for his alleged failure to prevent mass delays and cancellations at Southwest Airlines. The company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nixed</a> roughly two-thirds of flights during the Christmas travel rush even after severe winter weather conditions that struck the nation had subsided and other carriers had ceased canceling an elevated number of flights.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1608482946977087488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that he joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “nearly six months ago” in asking Buttigieg to implement fines and penalties on airlines that cancel their flights.
&#8220;Why were these recommendations not followed?” the lawmaker asked. “This mess with Southwest could have been avoided.”

Black background with copy space with look of seat window frame of airplane flight see view of sunset clouds, airplane wing, ice mountains for luxury trip tourism travel transportation concept

FAA’s ‘Woke Garbage’ Resurfaces After Computer Issues Ground Planes Nationwide

FAA Officials Blasted For Pushing Wokeness After Computer Issues Ground All Planes

Wokeness

Federal officials have reportedly traced the route of this week&#8217;s chaos at airports across the U.S. to a corrupted digital file that caused the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-aviation-administration-faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Aviation Administration</a> system to go down.
All flights across the United States were grounded early Wednesday morning as the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAM) failed.
&#8220;The FAA is continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage,&#8221; the FAA said in a statement Wednesday evening. &#8220;Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file.&#8221;
&#8220;At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;The FAA is working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again.&#8221;
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg allegedly admitted earlier in the day when speaking to President Joe Biden that he had no idea what caused the outage.
&#8220;I just spoke with Buttigieg. They don&#8217;t know what the cause is,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;But I was on the phone with him &#8230; I told them to report directly to me when they find out.”
Buttigieg faced backlash from lawmakers for yet another crisis that has unfolded under his watch as transportation secretary.
&#8220;Today the FAA (Federal Aviation Admin) grounded all flights because of a failure in their old, outdated system. So what was @PeteButtigieg doing behind-the-scenes to prevent outages like this from happening?&#8221; Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) tweeted. &#8220;Making acronyms more &#8216;inclusive&#8217; by renaming the NOTAM system from &#8216;Notice to Airmen&#8217; to &#8216;Notice to Air Missions.&#8217; I wish I was joking. Wokeism is a disease. Next time, try doing your job, Pete.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Making acronyms more “inclusive” by renaming the NOTAM system from “Notice to Airmen” to “Notice to Air Missions.” I wish I was joking.
Wokeism is a disease. Next time, try doing your job, Pete.
&mdash; Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1613349652291526659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Pete Buttigieg couldn&#8217;t organize a one-car funeral,&#8221; Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted. &#8220;He was never remotely qualified for this role.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pete Buttigieg couldn&#39;t organize a one-car funeral. 
He was never remotely qualified for this role.
&mdash; Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1613182449399341056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

US-AVIATION-FAA-TRAVEL

Officials Reveal Alleged Cause Of FAA’s System Going Down, Causing Flights To Be Grounded

Officials Reveal Alleged Cause Of FAA's System Going Down, Causing Flights To Be Grounded

Joe Biden

Our government seeks more and more control.
Our government is not competent.
These two statements are both true, and together, amount to a nightmare for institutional credibility. A government that seeks more control must at the very least demonstrate credibility in implementing its goals; a government that is incompetent can only regain legitimacy by limiting its authority. And yet we have a government that presents the worst of both worlds: incapacity to perform its most basic functions, combined with an ever-expanding encroachment into daily life.
Thus, this week, the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to ground virtually all flights in the United States after an outage in the so-called Notice to Air Missions systems, designed to warn pilots of weather problems, runway issues, or other obstacles. The NOTAM system relies on a reportedly outmoded computer system that has not been updated for years. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is most famous for taking a two month paternity leave and then bragging about it repeatedly on national television, helpfully commented, “There was a systems issue overnight that led to a ground stop because of the way safety information was moving through the system.” He then reported this problem to President Biden, who helpfully commented that Buttigieg ought to “restore the system quickly and safely, and to determine causes.”
Job well done, gentlemen.
The air traffic control nightmare is but the latest example of a government well over its skis. Whether we are talking about the nation’s scattershot but brutal covid lockdown and mandate policies, its utter incapacity to handle a historically unprecedented flood of illegal immigration across our Southern border, railroad strikes barely averted by Congressional force, or the signal inability to recruit members of our military, our government seems to be failing repeatedly at issues that implicate core competency.
And yet at the same time our government proves itself shockingly unable to perform its most basic functions, it continues to expand its ambitions. Thus, this week, we found out that the Consumer Product Safety Commission may consider banning gas stoves in the home, supposedly thanks to the risk of childhood asthma caused. There are approximately 40 million households in the United States currently using gas stoves.
When governments promise much but deliver little – and when they seek to control much, but only succeed in controlling the most minute and irritating aspects of daily life – they lose their legitimacy. And that is precisely what has been occurring over the course of the last century in the United States. The growth of the regulatory state means that government now reaches into the nooks and crannies of the lives of its citizens – and yet government cannot actually do the most basic things required of it. The response of citizens, unsurprisingly, is distrust in government itself.
But that distrust does not manifest, unfortunately, in widespread calls by citizens to restrict the size, scope and intrusion of government. Instead, it manifests as a hue and cry to “elect the right people.” This is a category error. The problem with our government is not one of staffing, but one of incentives – and all the incentives are on the side of inefficiency, blundering, and encroachment. That is not likely to stop until the American people recognize that they can have competent government or intensely involved government, but not both. In a representative republic, the problems of government are, in the end, problems of the people who vote for them.

Ben Shapiro 1 (1)

Our Blundering, Intrusive Government

Ben Shapiro

Federal Government

Readers Pass

Several lawmakers blasted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-transportation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transportation</a> Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pete-buttigieg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Buttigieg</a> over the meltdown at <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> which caused thousands of passengers to miss their flights, claiming that the situation could have been avoided.
The company, which announced plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-says-it-will-resume-normal-operations-on-friday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resume normal operations</a> beginning on Friday, canceled roughly two-thirds of flights during the busy Christmas travel season, even after severe winter weather conditions that struck the United States had subsided and other carriers had ceased canceling an elevated number of flights.
Executives vowed that the company will reimburse the passengers whose flights were canceled, as well as those who were forced to stay in hotels, rent cars, or purchase tickets with another carrier. Buttigieg called the “level of disruption” experienced by customers over the past week “unacceptable” in a <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-12/Message%20from%20Secretary%20Buttigieg%20to%20Southwest%20Airlines%20CEO%20Bob%20Jordan_12.29.22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and said his agency would use “the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers” to ensure customers are reimbursed.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1608264722385899520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> on the Transportation Department to hold Southwest CEO Bob Jordan “accountable for his greed and incompetence; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1608482946977087488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that he joined Sanders “nearly six months ago” in asking Buttigieg to implement fines and penalties on airlines which cancel their flights. “Why were these recommendations not followed?” the lawmaker asked. “This mess with Southwest could have been avoided.”
Southwest canceled 57% of flights on Thursday even as other companies, such as American Airlines and United Airlines, canceled less than 1% of flights, according to <a href="https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/yesterday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from FlightAware. The cancellation rates among major carriers were comparable on Friday and Saturday.
The June <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Flight-Delays-Letter-Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from Sanders, which noted that the airline industry received $54 billion in relief during the lockdown-induced recession, asked Buttigieg to “promptly refund passengers for flights that have been delayed over an hour,” as well as impose fines on airlines for “flights that are delayed more than two hours” and for “scheduling flights that they are unable to properly staff.”
“Taxpayers bailed out the airline industry during their time of need,” Sanders wrote. “It is the responsibility of the airline industry and the Department of Transportation to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the flying public and crew members are able to get to their destinations on time and without delay.”
Nina Turner, a former state lawmaker in Ohio and an ally of Sanders, likewise held Buttigieg <a href="https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1608182489914413056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accountable</a> for the Southwest meltdown. “This is incompetence. This is what placing unqualified people in positions of power to do the bidding of corporations will get you,” she contended. “There is a direct line from Secretary Buttigieg to the Southwest Airlines debacle and we shouldn’t pretend there isn’t.”
Buttigieg, a former presidential contender who is often floated as a potential future Democratic nominee, has been the subject of multiple controversies during his tenure in the Biden administration. The official took months of paid leave last year after he adopted twins even as the supply chain crisis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-has-been-on-paid-leave-for-months-amid-supply-chain-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hamstrung</a> the American economy. He was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-vacationed-in-posh-european-tourist-destination-as-rail-unions-neared-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caught</a> vacationing in Portugal as the specter of a nationwide rail strike loomed earlier this year and reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-took-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-trumps-hhs-sec-was-forced-to-resign-for-doing-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> taxpayer-funded private jets at least 18 times since assuming office, despite his support for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-explains-to-texans-why-they-should-buy-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policies</a> that seek to address climate change on a national level.

Mayor Lightfoot Joins Transportation Secretary Buttigieg For Announcement At O’Hare International Airport

Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna Tear Into Pete Buttigieg Over Southwest Airlines Fiasco

Congress

Democrats

Department of Transportation

Southwest Airlines

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-transportation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transportation</a> Secretary <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/pete-buttigieg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Buttigieg</a> blasted <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> CEO Bob Jordan in a Thursday letter, demanding that the company take immediate action to reimburse stranded passengers.
The carrier, which announced plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-says-it-will-resume-normal-operations-on-friday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resume normal operations</a> beginning on Friday, canceled roughly two-thirds of flights during the busy Christmas travel season, even after severe winter weather conditions that struck the United States had subsided. Executives announced that the company will reimburse the passengers whose flights were canceled, as well as those who were forced to stay in hotels, rent cars, or purchase tickets with another carrier.
Buttigieg called the “level of disruption” experienced by Southwest customers over the past week “unacceptable” in his <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-12/Message%20from%20Secretary%20Buttigieg%20to%20Southwest%20Airlines%20CEO%20Bob%20Jordan_12.29.22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> and warned Jordan that his agency would exercise “the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers” to ensure customers are reimbursed.
“While weather can disrupt flight schedules, the thousands of cancellations by Southwest in recent days have not been because of the weather. Other airlines that experienced weather-related cancellations and delays due to the winter storm recovered relatively quickly, unlike Southwest,” the former Democratic presidential candidate wrote. “For many, Southwest’s severe flight disruptions have resulted in missed time with loved ones during the holidays and in being separated for a prolonged period from their luggage even if they never boarded a flight.”
Southwest, unlike other major airlines, uses a route model which avoids hubs and therefore offers faster flights to residents of smaller cities. The delay or cancellation of one flight, however, impacts the entire carefully managed network as planes and staff members do not report to the subsequent leg of their flight path.
“Travelers are stuck at airports, facing the possibility of spending significant amounts of money to find another way of getting where they need to go. No amount of financial compensation can fully make up for passengers who missed moments with their families that they can never get back,” continued Buttigieg. “That’s why it is so critical for Southwest to begin by reimbursing passengers for those costs that can be measured in dollars and cents.”
The company has committed to providing meals when a “controllable cancellation or delay” causes passengers to wait more than three hours for a new flight, according to Buttigieg, who said that the Transportation Department will “take action to hold Southwest accountable” if the company “fails to fulfill commitments” that the airline made in customer service plans.
Southwest canceled 57% of flights on Thursday even as other carriers, such as American Airlines and United Airlines, canceled less than 1% of flights, according to <a href="https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/yesterday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from FlightAware. The cancellation rates among the three airlines were comparable on Friday.
Executives have sought to implement damage control as flight crews return to their necessary starting locations. “Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they&#8217;re planned to go,” Jordan said in a <a href="https://swamedia.com/releases/release-7e05ea1637937dc7354128bee780ad75-video-southwest-airlines-ceo-bob-jordan-issues-statement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> earlier this week. “We&#8217;re focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle.”

Buttigieg Sends Brutal Letter To Southwest CEO Demanding Airline Follow Through With Reimbursing Travelers

Buttigieg Sends Brutal Letter To Southwest CEO Demanding Airline Reimburse Travelers

Severe Weather

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg vacationed in a famous tourist hotspot in Europe as the threat of a rail strike threatened to grind the U.S. economy to a halt.
The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/buttigieg-vacationed-in-europe-as-rail-unions-were-on-verge-of-strike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Buttigieg left the U.S. for Porto, Portugal, on August 29, just days before Amtrak started canceling trips in anticipation that workers were going to strike.
The report said that some of the unions&#8217; demanded that workers get paid sick leave which was not included in the final contract that U.S. lawmakers passed and sent to President Joe Biden to be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/02/biden-signs-bill-averting-rail-worker-strike-despite-lack-of-paid-sick-days.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> into law. Biden had put Buttigieg as one of those in charge of leading the negotiations.
&#8220;Pete Buttigieg will take paid vacation in Europe for days on end but doesn&#8217;t think rail workers should get more than one day of sick leave,&#8221; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) <a href="https://twitter.com/philipletsou/status/1603132736012943360" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;If rail workers showed up for work as rarely as Buttigieg does, the country would fall apart.&#8221;
The report said that while the nature of Buttigieg&#8217;s trip was not known, it appears that he did not want anyone to know about it as he tried to maintain the illusion on social media that he will still in the U.S.
&#8220;As usual, while traveling on personal time he remained available and engaged on urgent issues, which in this case meant multiple calls with staff and stakeholders to work on the topic of rail labor negotiations,&#8221; Buttigieg&#8217;s office claimed, adding that the trip had been planned long in advance and that his work helped &#8220;successfully prevent a rail shutdown included dozens of calls and meetings between April and December.&#8221;
A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-took-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-trumps-hhs-sec-was-forced-to-resign-for-doing-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from earlier this month revealed that Buttigieg, an ardent proponent of reducing carbon emissions, has taken taxpayer-funded private jets rather than commercial planes at least 18 times since he was inaugurated into office.
Buttigieg has utilized a private jet fleet whose private records match his schedule of external and public engagements, as Americans for Public Trust (APT) discovered, Fox News stated in an exclusive report.
“Every day Americans face flight [cancellations] and long wait times because Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has completely mismanaged air travel,” APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland opined to Fox News.
“Yet, he gets to avoid all that by taking taxpayer-funded private jets to destinations with readily available commercial airline options,” she continued. “And for someone so holier-than-thou on reducing emissions, Buttigieg sure doesn’t seem to mind the pollution caused by his literal jet-setting. This is hypocrisy at its finest, and these troubling expenses to taxpayers must come under immediate scrutiny.”
In April 2022, Buttigieg stated at a virtual town hall, “When you look at the U.S. economy, transportation accounts for the largest share of our greenhouse gas emissions. To me, that means transportation ought to be responsible for the biggest share of the solution.”
In 2017, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, serving in the Trump administration, was found to have taken over 25 private jet flights during that year, which prompted him to resign from the administration.
Hank Berrien contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-took-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-trumps-hhs-sec-was-forced-to-resign-for-doing-that">Buttigieg Took Taxpayer-Funded Private Jets. Trump’s HHS Sec Was Forced To Resign For Doing That.</a>

SiriusXM’s Julie Mason Hosts A Town Hall With Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Presented With The Institute Of Politics

Buttigieg Vacationed In Posh European Tourist Destination As Rail Unions Neared Strike

Amtrak

Executive

A Fox News panel piled on Transportation Secretary — and green energy advocate — <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/pete-buttigieg-tells-americans-how-they-can-channel-their-pain-at-the-pump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Buttigieg</a>, decrying him as a hypocrite when they learned that he was not only regularly flying private rather than commercial, but using taxpayer dollars to fund that travel.
According to a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-flies-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-flight-data-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Monday by Fox News Digital&#8217;s Thomas Catenacci, Buttigieg has flown across the United States — using private jets at taxpayer expense — on at least 18 occasions. The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor is hardly the first government official to take criticism for such travel — former Transportation Secretary <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/whos-new-trump-administration-all-latest-names-james-barrett/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elaine Chao</a> took heat for seven taxpayer-funded flights totaling $94,000, and former Health and Human Services Secretary <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/7-things-you-need-know-about-trump-health-and-aaron-bandler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Price</a> resigned after his 26 private flights cost taxpayers $1.2 million.
But after months of listening to Buttigieg push Americans toward public transit and a transition to electric vehicles, the panelists on Monday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;Outnumbered&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pete-buttigieg-ripped-for-using-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-amid-calls-to-cut-emissions-walk-the-walk-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made it clear</a> they had had enough of the &#8220;do as I say, not as I do&#8221; Washington mentality.
&#8220;Shouldn&#8217;t anyone who espouses that hyper-moralism in terms of environmentalism, shouldn&#8217;t they be the ones who have to live the most stringent lives in terms of keeping themselves from enjoying luxuries like private plane travel?&#8221; Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy asked.
&#8220;Walk the walk, man!&#8221; co-host Emily Compagno exclaimed. &#8220;It is ridiculous to me that our tax dollars are funding for someone to travel internationally to Canada to pick up an award for advancing LGBTQ rights. Why then wouldn&#8217;t you, in your symbolism of advancement, take a commercial airline?&#8221;
&#8220;The notion that his holier-than-thou-ness is costing me? That&#8217;s what I can&#8217;t take,&#8221; Compagno continued. &#8220;I would love for my tax dollars to stop paying for their hypocrisy.&#8221;
&#8220;I think he should have to ride his bicycle all across the country,&#8221; Kennedy added.
Buttigieg has often talked about biking to work when he can — and a video of his security detail delivering his bike via SUV <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pete-buttigieg-bike-suv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sparked rumors</a> that he had driven most of the way to a meeting and then biked a short distance for show.
&#8220;He rode his bike to the White House Cabinet meeting and he rode his bike back to DOT after the meeting,&#8221; the Department of Transportation responded at the time.

‘Walk The Walk, Man!’: Fox Panel Blows Up Over Climate Enthusiast Pete Buttigieg Flying Private — At Taxpayer Expense

Fox News Panel Blows Up Over Climate Enthusiast Pete Buttigieg Flying Private — At Taxpayer Expense

Climate Change

Fox News

Media

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, an ardent proponent of reducing carbon emissions, has taken taxpayer-funded private jets rather than commercial planes at least 18 times since he was inaugurated into office, a new report says.
Buttigieg has utilized a private jet fleet whose private records match his schedule of external and public engagements, as Americans for Public Trust (APT) discovered, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-flies-taxpayer-funded-private-jets-flight-data-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> in an exclusive report.
“Every day Americans face flight [cancellations] and long wait times because Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has completely mismanaged air travel,” APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland opined to Fox News.
“Yet, he gets to avoid all that by taking taxpayer-funded private jets to destinations with readily available commercial airline options,” she continued. “And for someone so holier-than-thou on reducing emissions, Buttigieg sure doesn’t seem to mind the pollution caused by his literal jet-setting. This is hypocrisy at its finest, and these troubling expenses to taxpayers must come under immediate scrutiny.”
In April 2022, Buttigieg <a href="https://www.edf.org/article/buttigieg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> at a virtual town hall, “When you look at the U.S. economy, transportation accounts for the largest share of our greenhouse gas emissions. To me, that means transportation ought to be responsible for the biggest share of the solution.”
In 2017, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, serving in the Trump administration, was found to have taken over 25 private jet flights during that year, which prompted him to resign from the administration.
Democrats leaped on the opportunity to demand Price’s resignation; Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Pramila Jayapal, (D-WA) sent a <a href="https://rubengallego.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/democratic-congress-members-call-tom-price-resign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Price in which they stated:
<blockquote>
Earlier this month it emerged that since assuming office as Secretary of Health and Human Services, you have routinely made use of expensive private jets for official travel, bypassing cost-effective alternatives and wasting hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. At a minimum, the American people expect cabinet secretaries to lead with integrity, accept accountability, and use public resources responsibly. In light of your breach of the public trust, we write to urge you to do the right thing and immediately tender your resignation.
</blockquote>
Flight data show Buttigieg used taxpayer-funded private jets for a roundtrip from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas in August 2021. He also flew privately to Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and New Hampshire for a “Building a Better America Tour,” and for a roundtrip journey to Montreal in late September, where he attended an International Civil Aviation Organization conference.
“We’re going to places that demonstrate the range of things you can do with good transportation dollars,” he said, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/01/pete-buttigieg-infrastructure-law-campaign-00054427" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a> reported.

Buttigieg Took Taxpayer-Funded Private Jets. Trump’s HHS Sec Was Forced To Resign For Doing That.

Buttigieg Took Taxpayer-Funded Private Jets. Trump's HHS Sec Was Forced To Resign For Doing That.

Carbon Emissions

Jets

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg dodged multiple questions on whether the U.S. economy is headed for a recession.
While making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows, Buttigieg deflected multiple times when hosts asked him if he thought a recession was forthcoming. Buttigieg&#8217;s comments come on the heels of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/economic-contraction-again-confirmed-for-second-quarter-solidifying-technical-recession" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-quarters of negative economic growth</a>, which meets the rule-of-thumb definition of a recession, combined with crushing inflation that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-surpasses-forecasts-ahead-of-midterm-elections-in-bad-omen-for-democrats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rose 8.2% from September 2021 to September 2022</a>, surpassing analysts&#8217; forecasts.
Buttigieg downplayed the threat of recession on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/recession-inevitable-buttigieg-touts-supply-chain-focus/story?id=91553539&amp;cid=social_twitter_tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Week</a>&#8221; first.
&#8220;Look, it&#8217;s possible, but not inevitable,&#8221; he said. &#8220;[P]art of why we do see a lot of pressure on prices is that while demand has come back, Americans have more income because Americans have jobs in this almost historically low level of unemployment, it&#8217;s been hard for the supply side to keep up,&#8221; he added.
Then on CBS&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/buttigieg-calls-employment-numbers-strong-as-hell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Face the Nation</a>,&#8221; he was asked to clarify conflicting remarks that President Joe Biden made last week about a possible recession. &#8220;What exactly is the forecast?&#8221; host Margaret Brennan inquired.
&#8220;Well, look, I mean, forecasting is by its nature, something that is a little bit uncertain,&#8221; Buttigieg replied.
&#8220;That&#8217;s political spin,&#8221; Brennan cut in.
&#8220;Well, look, I- I don&#8217;t think anybody could argue that, for example, our unemployment numbers are anything but strong as hell, they&#8217;re under 4%,&#8221; Buttigieg responded. &#8220;That almost never happens. We&#8217;re at or near the definition of full employment. We also don&#8217;t have any illusions about the challenges that Americans face with prices,&#8221; he added before shifting the blame to Republicans who didn&#8217;t vote for Democratic priorities in the Inflation Reduction Act or the government funding bill.
&#8220;We are squarely focused on making it easier for Americans to get by on their income,&#8221; said Buttigieg.
The Transportation Secretary&#8217;s remarks follow similarly conflicting comments made by his boss. During a recent interview with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-shaky-recession-prediction-no-i-dont-think-so-maybe-a-slight-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden</a> shot down fears of a recession, saying that if one comes, it would be a minor one.
“Every six months they say this,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;There is no guarantee that there’s going to be a recession, I don’t think there will be a recession, if there is it will be a very slight recession, that is we’ll move down slightly.”
But while speaking to reporters Saturday, Biden shot down the possibility of a recession flat out, claiming that the U.S. economy was strong and that other countries were facing more significant hardship.
“Our economy is strong as hell,” Biden claimed. “Inflation is worldwide, it’s worse off everywhere else than it is in the United States. So the problem is a lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours.”

White House Press Secretary Psaki Holds Media Briefing With Transportation Secretary Buttigieg

Buttigieg Repeatedly Ducks Questions About The Possibility Of A Recession

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