Ohio train derailment: Vance tells Buttigieg to ‘stop blaming Donald Trump’ for chemical disaster

Virginia Aabram

February 16, 01:21 PM February 16, 01:21 PM

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Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) blasted the Department of Transportation’s response to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, calling on Secretary Pete Buttigieg to stop blaming the former administration for the disaster.

Vance on Thursday visited the area of the train crash that has released plumes of toxic chemicals into the environment in eastern Ohio, telling the press that he will call on Congress to “legislate a solution to this problem.” But he also took aim at Buttigieg, who has come under fire from Republicans for taking until this week to respond to the Feb. 3 accident.

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“The Department of Transportation, your Department of Transportation, has things it can do. Stop blaming Donald Trump, a guy who hasn’t been president for three years, and use the powers of the federal government to do the things necessary to help people in this community,” Vance said.

Buttigieg outlined the investments his department was making in railway safety in a tweet thread Tuesday, but he also blamed the former president for repealing proposed safety regulations.

“We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,” he said. “And of course, I’m always ready to work with Congress on furthering (or in some cases, restoring) our capacity to address rail safety issues.”

The chemicals released during the crash could contaminate water sources from West Virginia to Illinois if they’re in the Ohio River. Vance encouraged residents to drink only bottled water until the range of contamination is better understood.

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Vance’s fellow GOP senators have panned Buttigieg’s handling of the disaster.

“Look, I don’t think he’s out there derailing trains. But at the same time, he seems utterly absent when disasters occur on his watch,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the Washington Examiner. “In two years, there has been mess after mess after mess in the transportation world under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership. At some point, you have to ask, ‘What does this guy have to do to get fired?'”