Republicans cross the aisle to kill Pete Buttigieg travel transparency amendment
Jack Birle
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Multiple House Republicans joined most House Democrats to quash an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill that would have required the Department of Transportation to provide reports on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg‘s travel.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), would have required reports be sent to Congress “containing the flight records of the Secretary of Transportation for any flight on an aircraft owned by the Federal Aviation Administration for the 3 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act,” but the vote failed with some Republicans being in the majority against the bill.
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Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Sam Graves (R-MO), David Joyce (R-OH), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), and Brandon Williams (R-NY) joined 209 Democrats who voted against the amendment.
Three Democrats, Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Katie Porter (D-CA), joined the remaining 213 Republicans who voted for the amendment. Five members of the House, three Democrats and two Republicans, did not vote on the amendment.
Balderson later said he had submitted paperwork to change his vote to an “aye.”
“During a busy vote series late Wednesday night, Rep. Balderson inadvertently voted against Rep. Miller’s amendment to shed light on Secretary Buttigieg’s superfluous taxpayer-funded travel,” Balderson’s office tweeted on Thursday.
“Earlier this morning, Rep. Balderson submitted paperwork to the Clerk of the House to inform her that his intended vote was ‘AYE’, in favor of government transparency and reining in out-of-control spending.”
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The amendment came months after reports suggested that Buttigieg has flown on a taxpayer-funded private jet at least 18 times since taking office in 2021. A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told the Washington Examiner at the time that Buttigieg “mostly travels by commercial airline” and “has directed that travel and logistical decisions be grounded in efficient and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
The House passed the FAA reauthorization bill on Thursday after debate on amendments continued from Wednesday. The bill, which passed by a 351 to 69 vote, will reauthorize for five years, and it will now head to the Senate for consideration.