The Biden administration is stonewalling the release of records detailing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's highly-scrutinized private government jet travel, a conservative watchdog group says.
In June, Americans for Public Trust sued the Transportation Department's Federal Aviation Administration to obtain information on the secretary's flights, which Republicans have raised concerns over due to them being taxpayer-backed and seemingly frequent. However, the agency has continued to delay handing over documents and skirted key deadlines, according to the watchdog.
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"It’s sadly ironic that the FAA is wasting taxpayer dollars by stonewalling our lawsuit for records about Pete Buttigieg wasting taxpayer dollars," Americans for Public Trust Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told the Washington Examiner. "Despite repeated promises they would hand over records, and then missing those deadlines over and over, we now have proof that the FAA did not meaningfully work on our request until after we filed a lawsuit."
Buttigieg, who has referred to climate change as an urgent "crisis," took at least 18 flights on jets between early 2021 and mid-2022, Fox News reported. Private jets are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial airfare and 50 times more polluting than trains, according to Transport & Environment, a European energy group.
Americans for Public Trust filed records requests in November 2022 and January 2023 aiming to uncover flight logs, passenger manifests, and names of any members of Congress or White House officials who flew on the jets. The FAA has purportedly located 32 records responsive to the watchdog's request, though it doesn't plan to turn over documents until roughly Oct. 31, Americans for Public Trust said.
Federal agencies must provide relevant records asked for under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days, or 30 working days in the case of an extension being deemed necessary. In some cases, filers requesting documents may take legal action to fast-track the process.
"After waiting for the better part of a year, we’ve now been told the FAA needs nearly 3 more months to review and produce just 32 pages documenting Pete Buttigieg’s private jet travel," Sutherland said. "This raises serious concerns about the political meddling this administration is willing to engage in to hide the truth from the public."
The stonewalling revelation also comes on the heels of the Transportation Department's inspector general in February announcing it will audit Buttigieg’s jet travel "to determine whether the Office of the Secretary complied with federal regulations, policies, and procedures." Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) first requested the audit in a December 2022 letter to the inspector general, writing, "American taxpayers deserve assurances that their tax dollars are not wasted by the government's highest officials."
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Buttigieg isn't alone among officials who have come under fire for their jet travel. Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary under former President Donald Trump, ran taxpayers $94,000 for seven flights in 2017, Politico reported.
Tom Price, the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary, resigned in 2017 following the opening of several investigations into his private charter and military jet travel that cost roughly $1.2 million.