(StraightNews.org) — Most Americans want Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg to resign. A Rasmussen Reports poll asked voters, “Should Buttigieg resign as a result of how the Transportation Department handled the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio?” A simple majority of 51% said yes, while 13% said they weren’t sure. Of the Democrats polled, 35% believed he should step down. Buttigieg was fiercely criticized for failing to attend the site of the train derailment until after former President Donald Trump had visited. Mr. Buttigieg said at the time that he was leaving time and space for emergency services to respond and deal with the immediate aftermath of the accident.
The survey result comes only weeks after House Republicans also called for his resignation. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) introduced a resolution calling on Buttigieg to stand down and was supported by GOP Reps. Claudia Tenney (NY), Ryan Zinke (MT), Clay Higgins (LA), Greg Steube (FL), Mary Miller (IL, Bill Posey (FL), Lauren Boebert (CO), and Mike Collins (GA). Waltz said the Transport Secretary had gone AWOL on numerous occasions and has repeatedly failed the American people.
Waltz pointed to the 2021 crisis when the country experienced a record-breaking backlog of cargo ships at America’s busiest port in California. Daniel Innis, a professor at the University of New Hampshire Peter T. College of Business and Economics, criticized the Transport Secretary at the time and said, “Pete can help by sitting down with the trucking industry, the railroads, and so on.” He added that Buttigieg had not taken firm action to resolve the issue. Similarly, Waltz accused Buttigieg of absence from duty when thousands of planes were grounded around Christmas last year. The resolution also blames Secretary Buttigieg for going on vacation to Portugal “amidst ongoing negotiations of an impending railroad labor strike, leaving Congress to act in order to prevent the impending rail workers strike.”
In response to recent denunciations, Buttigieg has said he will think them through.
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