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Ilhan Omar and Ted Cruz’s agreement on Ohio train disaster FINALLY gets Buttigieg’s attention

February 16, 2023 | | Print Article

First, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg over the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, then Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) agreed with her as hell potentially froze over and an incompetent Buttigieg told them to call him.

“East Palestine railroad derailment will have a significant negative impact on the health and well-being of the residents for decades and there is almost zero national media attention. We need Congressional inquiry and direct action from @PeteButtigieg to address this tragedy,” Omar tweeted.

“Fully agree,” Cruz answered much to Buttigieg’s dismay in a bipartisan agreement in both the House and the Senate, crossing the political divide over a possible congressional inquiry into East Palestine, Ohio.

“Glad to see newfound bipartisan agreement here. We could start by discussing immediate steps Congress could take to address rail safety & reduce constraints on USDOT in this area. Give us a call, we can do some good work,” Buttigieg urged, not elaborating in the least on what he should actually be doing about the catastrophe.

Buttigieg’s flippant response certainly seems to indicate that he’s angry over the possibility of a Congressional inquiry and/or nervous concerning his massive screwup. He appears to be laying it at the feet of Congress while blaming former President Trump for his responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Ohio residents impacted by the toxic train derailment asked where Buttigieg was Wednesday night at a town hall event.

“Where’s Pete Buttigieg? Where’s he at?” one man angrily asked Mayor Trent Conaway, according to Fox News.

“I don’t know. Your guess is as good as me,” the mayor candidly replied as residents also demanded to know where Norfolk Southern was.

(Video Credit: WKYC Channel 3)

He told those in attendance that Tuesday was the first time he had “heard anything from the White House.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will finally be in East Palestine on Thursday to discuss the agency’s efforts concerning the environmental response, a spokesperson for the Transportation Department told Fox News Digital in an email.

“Within hours of the derailment, DOT staff were on the ground to support NTSB’s investigation into the cause of the derailment – and we continue to support this effort,” the DOT spokesperson claimed. “Secretary Buttigieg has spoken with both Governor DeWine and Governor Shapiro about DOT’s specific role in supporting the NTSB investigation. When the investigation is finished, Secretary Buttigieg asked about joining the governors in East Palestine to collaborate on steps to improve rail safety and hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”

Fox News reported:

The department had previously noted in an email that the National Transportation Safety Board is the lead investigator in the incident and that the Transportation Department is in a supporting role. It added that the Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration were on the ground within hours of the derailment.

 

Buttigieg tweeted on Tuesday that the department was “constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe.”

The consensus on Twitter is that the transportation secretary sucks at his job and they are letting Buttigieg know that he needs to go. His much-delayed response to the Ohio disaster, but immediate response to Ted Cruz didn’t go unnoticed either.

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