Watchdog: Buttigieg Refused Meetings With Dems and Republicans During Paternity Leave

Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, is being questioned about how he manages crises. The recent crisis, which saw every plane grounded in America, marks the beginning of a new era for Buttigieg’s job.

Let’s be honest. Buttigieg was not able to succeed in his current role. He failed as a mayor in a small Midwest city, and was unable to fill the potholes. From there he ran for president and failed to secure his party’s nomination. As a consolation for supporting Joe Biden in 2020’s presidential election, he was elected Secretary of Transportation. He wasn’t qualified Pete was not qualified for the job, but he had to check an important box that Democrats and Biden owed him.

So, what exactly are Buttigieg’s qualifications to run the Department of Transportation? Adam Wren (a writer who wrote a detailed profile of Buttigieg) has the answer.

Fun fact: One of @PeteButtigieg‘s favorite board games is Ticket to Ride, a game that involves collecting trains and claiming rail routes through states across the U.S.

— Adam Wren (@adamwren) December 15, 2020

He enjoys trains.

Buttigieg has taken an unusual approach to trying to convince Americans that he’s doing his job. In the beginning days of his administration, he was captured on video putting his bike in a big SUV and dragging it to the front of the vehicle. He then pedaled a short distance to work. He was trying to show support for clean energy. He was on vacation with his family in Portugal during the final days of the railway strike negotiations. Although he was actually still in Portugal, he donned a jacket with a tie and recorded a video pretending to be in Washington. He was most missing during the peak of the supply chain slowdown, when all the shipping containers were stacked offshore on the West Coast. This created a gridlock situation. Was he able to come home early from his generous government leave, when he and his wife adopted their twin children. Nope.

Pete responds defensively to questions regarding his performance as an office worker. He says that everyone understands that in a job as important as his, he must always be available. You’d think everyone would know that. But does Pete? It turns out, Pete turned down calls and meetings with both Republican and Democrat lawmakers while he was at his home with his little family. He was actually, Not Available 24/7. On Thursday, government watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) released information showing that inconvenient truth.

Pete was unavailable for assistance when needed and he did not issue a formal delegation, creating chaos as important decisions needed to be made while he was away. Hmm. So who was the boss when Pete was gone? This seems to be a very important question.

As he told CNN’s Jake Tapper in October, Pete was available at any time, even if it meant taking phone calls in the hospital. PPT included a quote from the interview within its publication. Press release.

You see, even though I was on paternity leaves,. . . when you take a job like mine, you understand and accept that you’re going to have to be available 24/7, depending on what’s going on, and you’re going to have to engage.

And I did. Even if it meant making a call from the hospital or taking a decision. [emphasis added]

PPT, for example, has obtained documents through a FOIA suit that show Pete denies a request made by Senator Chuck Grassley of an e-mail during his paternity Leave.

PPT has obtained documents from DOT in a FOIA lawsuit. They tell a very different story. Contrary to the Secretary’s explicit claims about taking phone calls, DOT rebuffed a request by Senator Chuck Grassley for a phone conversation with the Secretary during his paternity leave. The Senator tried to resolve an issue involving a $1.2 million bridge project, which was close to completion, while the supply chain crisis was raging.

Secretary Buttigieg’s office spurned the Senator’s appeal for a call by stating, “Unfortunately, the Secretary is currently on leave due to the birth of his twins,” And suggesting “perhaps we can aim for a meeting when the Secretary returns from his leave.” [emphasis added] The Secretary was absent for six weeks according to records. No prospective dates or times were offered, however, and Secretary Buttigieg’s calendars reveal that he did not return from his paternity leave until weeks after Senator Grassley’s request.

About that lack of formal delegation of Secretary of Transportation’s duties while he was on leave…

The lack of a formal delegation of the Secretary’s authority also appeared to cause some havoc. The Department regulations give the authority to the Secretary to take certain actions but leave the authority for other tasks and responsibilities undefined. As a result, the Secretary’s leave evidently created turmoil within the Department. A week after the Secretary’s leave ended, lawyers from all over the Department had to have a frenetic conversation. It began on Friday night and continued through the weekend in an effort to resolve a question of delegation of authority regarding a large loan program. Another highly redacted conversation revealed that DOT lawyers were forced to establish the status of their authority within the Department in order to submit legally required reports to Congress.

Buttigieg created more chaos within his department instead of dealing with the chaos caused the supply chain crisis.

Michael Chamberlain, Director of PPT, issued a statement.

“As a father myself, I understand that being a parent is the most important job in the world,” stated Michael Chamberlain, Director of Protect the Public’s Trust. “But the Secretary of Transportation’s obligations to the American public are 24/7, as Secretary Buttigieg has admitted. It appears as though, during his paternity leave, he was not always available when called upon and did not have some necessary contingencies in place to ensure the continuity of operations at DOT. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that so many crises involving the Department, from the supply chain breakdown to the FAA system outage that grounded flights all over the country, have occurred on his watch.”

Mayor Pete needs some explanation. Why is Buttigieg being held responsible for failing to address the multitude of crises facing his administration? Joe Biden should care less about checking his identity boxes and more about finding qualified, talented individuals to fill his cabinet.

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