Rhodes Scholar and war veteran Pete Buttigieg serves as U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration. Buttigieg has been in the news lately for what a number of prominent GOP lawmakers have characterized as his insufficient response to the tragic toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Buttigieg/Biden criticism has been especially loud from Trump-backed MAGA queens Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. A typical example is seen below.
It’s been nearly two weeks and Mayor Pete has yet to go to East Palestine, Ohio.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 16, 2023
Perhaps they should consider changing the name of their town to Ukraine if they want the Biden Regime to pay better attention.
Responding to the criticism that he should have visited Ohio in the immediate aftermath of the derailment, Buttigieg repeatedly said that people from his agency were in East Palestine from the “very first hours” and that a more thorough DOT response would ensue once the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) finished the first phase of its investigation and issued a preliminary report.
Buttigieg stressed that the NTSB “needs to be able to do its work independently.”
[Note: The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency “responsible for civil transportation accident investigation.”]
Yet the criticism kept coming, even after Buttigieg visited East Palestine once the NTSB had completed its investigation. (Critics on the left say the MAGA Republicans like Boebert, Greene and Rep. Jim Jordan are using the accident to sow more division. The MAGA wing of the GOP says the Biden administration isn’t fulfilling its obligations.)
The criticism then moved beyond complaints issued on social media and in mainstream media to a formal request for information made by letter to Buttigieg, signed by Rep. James Comer, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, with MAGA stars Jordan, Boebert and Greene among the 21 Republican signatories.
The letter contains a misunderstanding of the structural makeup of the Department of Transportation, asserting that the NTSB is part of the DOT. It reads (note the possessive): “DOT’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a preliminary report on February 23, 2023, which stopped short of declaring a concrete cause of the derailment.”
In a public response referencing the letter, Buttigieg trolls its senders, writing that he is “alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department.”
I am alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department. NTSB is independent (and with good reason). Still, of course, we will fully review this and respond appropriately. https://t.co/beNgtBnHqj
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 24, 2023
[Note: The chief subtext to this story concerns Trump administration train safety deregulations and corresponding record railroad industry profits. MAGA leaves this out of its narrative. But Dems, who haven’t reversed the dangerous deregulations, are also vulnerable to criticism for inaction.]
About that subtext, Buttigieg had this to say in East Palestine: “The same people who come here and want to play political games are the same people who sided with industry, again and again and again, and watered down rail regulations again, and again, and again.”
Seeking to reach the American people where they live to deliver his message directly, Buttigieg appeared on the program of sports media personality Stephen A. Smith (see below). Buttigieg said he was there to “cut through the noise, cut through the misinformation and get to the facts.”
.@PeteButtigieg talks about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and how the administration is working through this crisis to help the community. pic.twitter.com/u8UeOHC2MD
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) February 23, 2023
Buttigieg told Smith: “Our focus is on making sure that residents in this community get taken care of and making sure that trains get safer in this country.”
Professor Aviva Vincent at Syracuse University, addressing the current and future impact of the derailment, reported on February 20: “The toxins have already reached the Ohio River which flows through six states and serves as a source of drinking water. Over 3,500 fish have died, livestock that graze the lands have died or been moved out of state. The human toll will include the environmental, economic, social, and personal impact. Evacuated residents were given ‘permission’ to return home days after the event though it is still not safe to do so.”
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