(FeaturedNews.com) – A new Senate Republican bill is looking to block top Department of Transportation (DOT) officials including Secretary Pete Buttigieg from using taxpayers’ money to cover private government paces.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) told Fox News Digital that Buttigieg in particular appears to be unwilling to travel on commercial airlines, which is exactly the type of airlines that his department oversees. He added that it is time for Buttigieg to travel commercially instead of exploiting taxpayer dollars in order to fly on private jets. Schmitt also pointed out that this bill was going to fix an important loophole when it came to reporting the costs of flights. This particular loophole refers to the cost-calculating policy used by the department which will often make it appear that the travel costs of the department were lower than they were in reality.
The legislation would also block DOT officials, including Buttigieg from using a private flight unless it is an emergency or the flight is projected to cost 5 percent less than what a commercial flight would cost. Schmitt added that he was hopeful that the bill would make Buttigieg think about “the most fiscally responsible option” for his official flights.
Fox News Digital had reported late last year that Buttigieg had used taxpayer-funded jets for flights abroad at least 18 times during his time in office. Buttigieg has also been using the private jet fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for his domestic visits to Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, and several other states.
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