Republicans are urging unprecedented action against Biden’s Transportation Secretary, dubbed “Missing in Action” and “Incompetent.” Several Republicans are demanding that President of the United States Joe Biden remove his Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg. According to recent news, more and more Republican leaders at both the federal and state levels are requesting his removal. Some have suggested impeachment as a solution if Buttigieg does not willingly resign.
In a letter to Joe Biden, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) described the East Palestine tragedy as the latest in a series of transportation-related scandals that happened under Mr. Buttigieg’s watch. Rubio added that Secretary Buttigieg took a vacation in Portugal’s wine country during a potential train strike last year. There were also close calls in commercial aviation and recent system failures, notably the one that halted air traffic in Florida in January. These events demonstrate that the DOT is not adequately addressing chronic and critical issues. Rubio said he lacks faith in Secretary Buttigieg’s ability to safeguard the American people.
Mr. Buttigieg replied to the criticism of the Florida senator by stating that Mr. Rubio favored fewer transportation rules and accused Rubio of letting the railroad business write his letter. Mr. Rubio said that Pete “was missing in action” throughout the derailment. Then, Buttigieg lied to the public, stating that his 2021 letter requesting additional track inspections was a letter requesting deregulation. Rubio insists that he must be sacked because he is inept and only concerned with his future political ambitions.
Senator Rubio summed up his stance on Twitter: Airline catastrophe, FAA meltdowns, trains derailing… What must @SecretaryPete do to lose his job?
In the meantime, Senator Rick Scott challenged Buttigieg to visit the derailment site via Twitter. Hey, @SecretaryPete: Now is the right time for folks in East Palestine, Scott tweeted in response to a story that quoted Buttigieg as saying he would go “when the time is right.”
Scott stated that things get done when leaders show up—enough with the excuses. “Show up, do your job, and stop playing politics with every crisis you find.”
It should be mentioned that the annual average number of railway derailments between 1990 and 2021 was 1,704. From 1975 to 2021, there were 23 fatalities associated with rail-related events involving hazardous chemicals. According to US TODAY, hazmat cargo breaches discovered during inspections of rail shippers and operators appear to be increasing.
In the last five years, federal inspectors have identified 36% more hazardous offenses than in the previous five years, and penalties for these breaches have increased by 16%. US TODAY also reported that hazardous materials s have leaked or spilled from trains “more than 5,000 times in the United States during the past decade.”
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) tweeted in agreement with Rubio that Buttigieg should resign.
Local Ohio Republicans have joined the clamor calling for the Secretary’s dismissal. As reported by Just the News, state lawmaker Michael Rulli commented that the residents of East Palestine had their water, air, and land contaminated. Pete Buttigieg’s only response was to downplay the significance of the incident. He is not performing his duties, and he ought to resign. Now.
Congressman Warren Davidson went beyond the requests for resignation by threatening impeachment if Mr. Buttigieg did not quit or be dismissed. Davidson hopes he resigns, but if he doesn’t, there is a lengthy list of impeachment conditions. Davidson said he never imagined they’d reach the stage where they need to impeach a transportation secretary, but how many failures must occur under his watch?
Secretary Pete Buttigieg might join Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in becoming an impeachment target for incompetence.
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