Watchdog Group Sues

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg—a vocal proponent of climate action and advocate of increased government control of carbon emissions—has made use of taxpayer-funded private jets at least 18 times since assuming his office in February 2021.

According to flight-tracking data, Buttigieg has traveled both domestically and internationally aboard private jets managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT) has repeatedly prevailed upon the FAA to provide records detailing Buttigieg’s use of the agency’s jets—albeit to no avail.

On 15 June 2023, APT reported it had filed a federal lawsuit against the FAA over the agency’s alleged improper delay in providing the requested records.

APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland stated: "Pete Buttigieg abused taxpayer dollars by using a private jet to fly domestically and internationally. It’s been six-months since we helped expose Secretary Buttigieg’s trips, but his agency refuses to tell the American people how much they’re on the hook for his extravagant travel arrangements."

Ms. Sutherland added: "Buttigieg’s FAA has stonewalled and refused to adhere to the law for releasing public records, so we’re filing suit on behalf of all Americans who deserve to know how their money is being spent by this administration.”

APT's lawsuit sets forth that more than one-hundred days have elapsed since the FAA acknowledged receipt of the group’s information requests.

The first such request, filed in November 2022, petitioned the agency for all flight logs and passenger manifests germane to three specific FAA-managed business jets. The second request, filed 09 January 2023, sought identification of every instance in which White House or Executive branch officials or Congressional members made use of the aforementioned aircraft. The third request, filed 11 January 2023, broadened the inquiry presented in the second request to include all FAA-managed aircraft.

APT’s lawsuit notes multiple instances in which the FAA set and subsequently failed to meet its own deadlines vis-à-vis the provision of the requested records. The agency has since indefinitely delayed production of subject records.

APT’s lawsuit states: "The FAA has not communicated with APT concerning whether the FAA will fulfill its FOIA requests since missing two self-imposed extended deadlines of May 1 and May 18, 2023. Nor has the FAA provided any indication as to when APT can expect its requests to be processed."

The suit continues: "The only documents that the FAA has produced to APT were documents previously produced in response to a FOIA request from a different party, and the documents produced are not fully responsive to all three of APT’s requests. APT accordingly brings this lawsuit to compel the FAA to immediately respond to APT’s FOIA requests and promptly disclose all responsive, non-exempt records."

Under the Freedom of Information Act, federal agencies are required to provide requested records within twenty working days, or—in the event an extension is deemed necessary—thirty working days. The requesting party is allowed to pursue legal action if a court determines said party has exhausted its administrative remedies.

Publicly available flight records pertaining to Buttigieg’s alleged misuse of FAA aircraft align with the Secretary of Transportation’s schedule of government stakeholder and public engagements.

Speaking in December 2022 to the point of Buttigieg’s apparent travel-habits, Ms. Sutherland remarked: "Everyday Americans face flight [cancellations] and long wait times because Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has completely mismanaged air travel; yet he gets to avoid all that by taking taxpayer-funded private jets to destinations with readily available commercial airline options—and for someone so holier-than-thou on reducing emissions, Buttigieg sure doesn’t seem to mind the pollution caused by his literal jet-setting. This is hypocrisy at its finest, and these troubling expenses to taxpayers must come under immediate scrutiny."

While the exact taxpayer cost of Buttigieg's executive travel is unclear, the FAA—as reported by the Washington Post in 2017—has charged federal agencies roughly $5,000 per hour to use its fleet. Ergo Buttigieg’s travel expenses may be conservatively estimated at $90,000.

Flight-tracking data shows Buttigieg, in August 2021, used taxpayer-funded business jets to travel roundtrip from Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas for purpose of promoting Nevada public works projects. On another occasion, he visited multiple states as part of a tour highlighting grants authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—jetting on taxpayer dollars to Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and New Hampshire over the course of a trip dubbed the Building a Better America Tour. When asked about his decision to travel to a series of key swing-states upon which recent federal elections hinged, Buttigieg pointed out that Oklahoma wasn’t a swing state, but declined to comment on the remainder of the states he’d visited.

Secretary Buttigieg subsequently used an FAA private jet for a roundtrip journey to Montreal, where he attended both an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conference and a Canadian gay rights gala at which he received an award for his "contributions to the advancement of LGBTQ rights."

To the subject of Buttigieg’s travel by taxpayer-funded private jet, a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson claimed: "Secretary Buttigieg mostly travels by commercial airline, and has directed that travel and logistical decisions be grounded in efficient and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.  …However, there are some cases where it is more efficient and/or less expensive for the Secretary and accompanying personnel to fly on a 9-seater FAA plane rather than commercial flights.”

The spokesperson withheld quantification of the monies the DoT has ostensibly saved taxpayers.

In 2021, on the heels of the publication of his agency’s Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan, Buttigieg proclaimed: "The climate crisis is here today, threatening Americans’ lives and livelihoods, our homes and businesses, and even the way we travel and operate our federal agencies. The good news is that we know what to do about it, and America is fully capable of rising to the occasion."

The Secretary’s proclamation continued: "While we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst outcomes of climate change, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s plan will help ensure that our transportation infrastructure, policies and programs will be more resilient to the climate impacts already facing our country.”

At a 2021 United Nations climate summit, while engaged in climate negotiations with various world leaders, Buttigieg doggedly pushed decarbonization policies, remarking during the event that aviation is a "significant contributor to climate change."

Whether or not Secretary Buttigieg bolstered his argument with an accounting of the vast number of daily commercial flights by which Washington D.C. airports are serviced remains unknown.

FMI: www.americansforpublictrust.org