Buttigieg Attempts To Explain Regular Private Government Jet Use

Embattled Transportation Secretary Pete ButtigiegHe has been criticized for being a terrible employee and for frequent use of private jets. This was something he tried to defend during a appearance on Fox News.

It It didn’t go as planned.

“You’ve been a big advocate for the environment—the administration’s climate change policy. What do you say to people who ask, is it environmentally responsible to fly on private government jets when commercial options are available?” Host Bret Baier asked.

“Well, when we’re making a decision about what kind of aircraft to use, we weigh a lot of things. That’s one of the things we consider. So is saving taxpayers money. Now, I fly the majority of the time in economy class on an airliner, just like everybody else,” Buttigieg claimed. “But there are cases where we use an FAA jet, a jet that’s assigned to my department. I’ll give you an example. I went to Wisconsin recently. This was last year, I think. […] We saved taxpayers $2,000 by using the FAA jet instead of buying those airline tickets.”

After Baier Several other private jet flights were also mentioned Buttigieg The secretary claimed that the secretary had taken. “taxpayers are usually saving money when we do that.”

The Federal agencies are being charged by the FAA, according to reports $5,000 per hour for the use of a private jet. According A recent analysis of his flight records by The New York Post, Buttigieg Since taking office, has used private planes 18 times. His predecessor, Elaine Chao, was criticized for using private planes seven times in 2017.

Baier Not to be confused with HHS, former HHS employees Secretary Tom Price I was forced to resign Donald Trump’s cabinet for his use of private jets. Of Of course, it depends on ButtigiegHowever, this was different because, allegedly when Price did it, it wasn’t saving taxpayers money, but when he does it, it is. For Buttigieg’s explanation to be true, we’d have to believe that the FAA offers a ridiculously huge discount for anyone working in a Democrat administration.