After being notably absent from East Palestine, Ohio for weeks after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is now apparently done taking some "personal" time, the excuse he used to avoid answering questions from a reporter about the Ohio mess last week.
Now, Buttigieg has surfaced in Kansas City, Missouri, at the invitation of local leaders (how long did the residents of East Palestine ask Buttigieg to visit before he actually did?) to help unveil a shiny new airport terminal at KCI and likely try to polish the turd that is the Biden administration's transportation policy. But there's a significant problem with Buttigieg swooping in (will he be wearing a reflective vest again?) to appear as the hero of America's transportation system.
I am delighted @SecretaryPete accepted our offer to return to Kansas City tomorrow to celebrate the completion of the new KCI terminal along with numerous dignitaries and many who helped build our new airport terminal. An important day in Kansas City history ahead. pic.twitter.com/B7tB0GH3oG
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) February 26, 2023
You see, neither President Biden nor Secretary Buttigieg had anything to do with approving the new and improved single terminal at KCI — and Buttigieg is about to take a victory lap on former President Donald Trump and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao's behalf.
That's because, in 2017, 76 percent of voters in Kansas City approved construction of a new, single terminal at KCI. Subsequently, the Trump administration — FAA, DOT, et al. — approved plans for the new terminal and even prioritized the project as part of a larger $1.2 billion investment in America's air transportation system. Out of a list of 50 "priority" transportation projects, KCI was put at number 26 by the Trump administration.
In addition to being prioritized as a project site, Secretary Chao announced in 2020 that KCI would receive a grant of more than $7.9 million for "taxiway rehabilitation" as part of the larger investment designed to "improve our nation's airport infrastructure, enhance safety, and strengthen growth in local communities," an effort Chao said was "especially important as the economy recovers from COVID-19."
Within one year, Biden had taken office, Buttigieg had been named Transportation Secretary, and they were off to ruining both any chance of an economic recovery and the effectiveness of the U.S. transportation system. On Biden and Buttigieg's watch, the economy is sliding into a worsening recession, unemployment is expected to spike, and there have been more transportation crises — including a complete outage of the FAA's NOTAM system — than can be quickly listed.
All the while, Buttigieg has been focused on making the "Notice to Airmen" system more equitable by renaming it "Notice to Air Missions" system...before it then crashed and brought the entire U.S. air transportation system grinding to a halt.
And now, Buttigieg is in Kansas City to wax poetic about the importance of eliminating racist bridges and gendered air terminology in a building for which he can't actually take credit. Will he thank President Trump and Secretary Chao for making sure the project was well-funded and completed? Unlikely. But they're the ones to actually deserve the credit, not Buttigieg or Biden.