Chasten responds to MTG’s bid to have Pete Buttigieg’s salary slashed to $1

The House GOP yesterday succeeded in passing an amendment to cut Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s salary to $1. The amendment to the 2024 Transpiration and Housing and Urban Development spending bill was introduced by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In an impassioned speech, Greene blasted Buttigieg’s performance as Transportation Secretary.

“Pothole Pete staged fake bike rides to the White House and used private planes funded by taxpayers to receive awards for the way certain people have sex.”

Greene claims Buttigieg took a taxpayer-funded plane journey to an LGBTQ Awards show.

In February, the Transportation Department watchdog announced it would audit Buttigieg’s use of FAA private jets. It’s believed he used 18 such flights since taking over as Transportation Secretary. The DoT said the flights cost taxpayers around $42,000.

By comparison, it was previously revealed former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao took seven flights on FAA-owned planes in 2017. This included a trip to and around Europe for her and five staffers costing $68,892 alone.

Buttigieg welcomed the planned audit, saying at the time, “Glad this will be reviewed independently so misleading narratives can be put to rest. Bottom line: I mostly fly on commercial flights, in economy class. And when I do use our agency’s aircraft, it’s usually a situation where doing so saves taxpayer money.”