New laws would cease Buttigieg, DOT officers from utilizing non-public jets for presidency journey

A Republican senator has launched laws meant to cease Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and different prime DOT officers from flying on government-owned non-public planes with taxpayers footing the invoice.

The invoice by Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri was despatched to the Democrat-run Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the place it is going to possible languish.

Mr. Schmitt stated taxpayers deserve safety from frivolous authorities journey bills.

“Secretary Buttigieg seems averse to traveling on the very commercial airlines that his Department oversees,” Mr. Schmitt stated. “It’s far past time that Secretary Buttigieg and senior officials travel commercially instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on private jet flights.”

The Department of Transportation didn’t instantly return a request for remark. 

Mr. Buttigieg flew 18 occasions on taxpayer-funded non-public planes managed by the Federal Aviation Administration late final yr, in response to data obtained by the federal government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust and first reported by Fox News.

Mr. Buttigieg just isn’t the primary high-level authorities official to come back below scrutiny for utilizing non-public flights lately. 

Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao used the identical planes through the Trump administration, racking up $94,000 in flight prices. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was pressured to resign from the Trump administration for $1.2 million in taxpayer-funded non-public flights.

Mr. Schmitt’s laws would prohibit the transportation secretary and members of his government employees from flying on non-public plane owned by the FAA, until in case of emergency or if the price of utilizing the non-public craft is a minimum of 5% cheaper than the fare on a business airline. 

Each flight on a DOT-owned plane by Mr. Buttigieg or his government employees would require a justification and itemization of every journey, which would come with proof that the non-public flight was cheaper than a business flight. 

The government-owned plane wouldn’t be allowed for private or political use, both. 

Mr. Schmitt’s invoice would additionally make the DOT change the way it calculates the price of flights to do away with a loophole that the company has used to “make traveling appear cheaper.” 

The laws would require that when evaluating per-seat journey prices, the DOT can’t cost totally different charges to non-agency officers and should use the total price of a flight on an FAA-managed airplane.