(Headline USA) A new GOP bill would prevent Transportation Department officials, including the agency’s secretary, Pete Buttigieg, from using private jets on the taxpayers’ dime.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., comes in response to allegations that Buttigieg improperly used a government-funded private jet for multiple trips.
“Secretary Buttigieg seems averse to traveling on the very commercial airlines that his department oversees. It’s far past time that Secretary Buttigieg travel commercially instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on private jet flights,” Schmitt said in a statement.
If the bill passes, Transportation Department officials would be prohibited from taking private flights except for in times of emergency or if the flight is projected to cost at least 5% less than a commercial alternative. The bill would also eliminate a current “loophole” that allows the federal government to hide the real costs of flying private, according to Schmitt.
The Republican senator said he hopes his bill will “make Secretary Buttigieg consider the most fiscally responsible option when flying on official business.”
Buttigieg is facing an ethics investigation over allegations that he improperly flew private more than a dozen times. A Fox News report last year found that Buttigieg used taxpayer-funded jets at least 18 times while in office, including for trips to Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire.
A government watchdog sued the Transportation Department last week for alleged withholding the release of Buttigieg’s flight records. Americans for Public Trust said in a lawsuit that the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to fulfill the three Freedom of Information Act requests that APT submitted last year.
Buttigieg has denied any wrongdoing, saying he welcomes the ethics investigation.
“Glad this will be reviewed independently so misleading narratives can be put to rest. Bottom line: I mostly fly on commercial flights, in economy class. And when I do use our agency’s aircraft, it’s usually a situation where doing so saves taxpayer money,” he said.
