A new report from the Inspector General found that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took eight trips consisting of 20 flights —all on the taxpayer dime. Buttigieg and his staff spent approximately $59,000 between August 2021 and June 2023.
According to Fox News, “Though DOT has repeatedly explained that Buttigieg’s use of the jets saved taxpayers money, the audit revealed that just three of the trips were justified by “cost effectiveness,” while the others were justified by security, scheduling and communications concerns.”
“Ensuring that Federal officials, including career personnel and political appointees, adhere to Federal requirements regarding the proper use of public resources is essential to maintaining public trust and confidence,” the DOT OIG report concludes.
“The Department has internal controls over the process to authorize and approve travel on official use of DOT aircraft, such as requiring legal review and approval of all aircraft use justifications, and has implemented new ones, such as expanded voucher audit criteria, to help ensure process standardization,” it continues. “Continued oversight in this area is important to maintain transparency and accountability for Federal funds.”
A spox for the Department of Transportation insists that the trips ultimately end up saving money for taxpayers, but the OIG says the agency is not required to “provide documentation to support commercial flight costs or availability information used in cost comparisons.”
So it’s impossible to know the truth.
“As the report confirms, the Secretary travels by commercial airline the vast majority of the time and has directed that travel and logistical decisions be grounded in efficient and responsible use of taxpayer dollars,” a DOT spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“The exceptions have been when the Department’s career ethics officials, who have served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, determined that the use of a 9-seat FAA aircraft would be either more cost-effective or should be approved for exceptional scheduling or security reasons,” they added. “The majority of times the FAA aircraft was used actually saved taxpayers money, including in instances that were required for exceptional scheduling needs.”
“In this holiday news dump, the Inspector General admits that the Department of Transportation has been using incorrect flight cost estimates to justify Secretary Buttigieg’s use of a taxpayer-funded private jet,” Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust (APT), told Fox News Digital. “After stonewalling the release of records for over a year, the Biden administration will try to say Buttigieg is in the clear, but Americans will see through this thinly-veiled attempt to exonerate the Secretary.
“Travelers are spending their hard-earned money and countless hours on flights to see loved ones this holiday season,” she continued. “As they sit on the tarmac, they’ll have plenty of time to wonder why they’re paying for their own commercial flights and Buttigieg’s private flights, too.
