Flight records reveal United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has taken flights on taxpayer-funded private jets while pushing to ease carbon emissions.
Buttigieg has taken at least 18 flights using a private jet fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and paid for by the American taxpayer to multiple states, including Florida, Ohio, and New Hampshire, since being a part of President Joe Biden’s cabinet, according to records obtained by the government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT) and first reported by Fox News.
Flight records obtained by the government watchdog group showed that Biden’s transportation secretary’s flight records also align evenly with his external and public engagements schedule. The report noted that the “exact taxpayer cost of Buttigieg’s flights is unclear.” Still, the Washington Post reported that the FAA charges federal agencies roughly $5,000 an hour to use the private jet fleet.
🚨 REPORT: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, an advocate of the ESG agenda in the US, has taken at least 18 taxpayer-funded private jet flights since taking office, according to flight tracking data we obtained.
via @ThomasCatenacci at @FoxNews https://t.co/hmMhYSkKG3
— Americans for Public Trust (@apublictrust) December 12, 2022
Of course, this comes after multiple former President Donald Trump appointees also came under scrutiny for using private jets. Trump Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after reportedly taking 26 private jet flights, costing taxpayers about $1.2 million.
The report explained that Buttigieg had used two taxpayer-funded Cessna 560XL jets that the FAA manages for trips to states including Nevada, Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, and New Hampshire to promote public works projects and highlight grants that were authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Buttigieg also reportedly used the FAA’s jet for a…