Oversight Committee demands answers from Buttigieg on air and rail fiascos

House Republicans are demanding that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg explain the alarming amount of near-misses on runways at US airports and rail safety mishaps.

GOP members of the powerful House Oversight Committee are calling on Buttigieg to fork over a trove of documents and have his department give the panel a full brief about the various transportation snafus.

“These failures indicate a recent and disturbing pattern of failures at the Department placing at the safety of Americans at risk,” Republican lawmakers wrote to Buttigieg in a letter dated Tuesday.

In 2022, there were roughly 1,730 runway incursions and as of July 24, 2023, there were 1,539 incursions this year, according to Federal Aviation Administration data cited by the Republican lawmakers.

Some of these debacles drew some media attention. For instance, back in January of this year two planes nearly collided at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Republicans cited over a dozen airport fiascos in their letter to Buttigieg.

In terms of rail safety hiccups, there have been at least 2,000 incidents nationally since 2021, including roughly 1,310 derailments and 146 collins, the letter said.

Perhaps most infamous was the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that unleashed toxic vinyl chloride into the nearby air, soil, and water.

Buttigieg stoked backlash from the GOP for taking roughly three weeks to visit the beleaguered community earlier this year. President Biden still has yet to survey the damage.

Republican lawmakers cited nine public incidents of rail safety scares.

“Despite these incidents, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) has more than 86 new unresolved recommendations since President Biden took office,” they added, citing a DOT Office of Inspector General report.

“[Office of Management and Budget] requires that OIG recommendations be ‘resolved’ within six months,” the lawmakers continued. “It appears from the OIG’s catalogue of long overdue and unresolved recommendations that DOT’s leadership is not prioritizing Americans’ safety on air, land, and sea.”

Republicans on the panel are seeking documents summarizing injuries and deaths from the air and rail snafus, communications with the White House on those incidents, DOT plans to take preventative measures, documents related to correspondence with the inspector general, and more.

In addition, the GOP is calling for a staff-level briefing “no later than” Sept. 19.

Buttigieg had been a rising Democrat star, having mounted a breakout 2020 campaign that ultimately came up short against Biden.

Americans for Public Trust, a conservative watchdog recently blasted the Federal Aviation Administration for stonewalling its request for information about Buttigieg’s flight logs and passenger records.