Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg had done a terrible job thus far in his role, as was especially evident in the aftermath of the toxic train derailment incident in Ohio last month, and there have been growing calls from Republican lawmakers for him to step down from his Cabinet position in the Biden administration.
Those lawmakers are not alone, as a recent poll showed that a majority of American voters similarly wanted to see Buttigieg's resignation from office, Breitbart reported.
At immediate issue here is the decidedly belated response of the Transportation secretary to the major railroad disaster that polluted a small Ohio town and the surrounding area, which was really just the final straw following a series of other failures and shortcomings in response to other transportation and infrastructure-related crises over the past two years.
Rasmussen Reports surveyed 950 likely U.S. voters last week and, with a 3 percent margin of error, asked, "Should Buttigieg resign as a result of how the Transportation Department handled the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio?"
Per Breitbart, 51 percent of respondents said that Buttigieg should resign while 36 percent said he should not and the remaining 13 percent were unsure either way.
Broken down along partisan lines, the outlet revealed that 68 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of independents, along with even 35 percent of Democrats, believed that it was time for Buttigieg to resign.
Notably, it was only a 49 percent plurality of Democrats, and not a clear majority, who supported Buttigieg remaining in his current post.
As for the Republican lawmakers who are calling for Sec. Buttigieg to resign, Fox News reported that Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) laid out just some of the reasons why in a speech on the House floor last week, when he asserted, "Pete Buttigieg has shown that he is unfit to lead the Department of Transportation and must resign immediately."
"From his first day in office, he has been more focused on diversity training and identity politics than on building and maintaining America’s transportation system," the congressman said. "He has abandoned his department’s mission of improving the safety, technology, and efficiency of our infrastructure in favor of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives."
"Buttigieg took 10 days to acknowledge this incident, and three weeks to show up and support the community," he continued with regard to the train derailment. "As Ohioans fled their homes and worried about their health, the secretary of Transportation was on TV whining about too many white people in construction industries."
"His policies have continuously put the wokes before the folks, and we are again seeing the consequences," Collins added. "This administration’s focus on DEI is forcing private companies to rethink their goals, and one has to wonder: Was Norfolk Southern DEI’s policies directing resources away from the important things like greasing wheel bearings? This insanity must stop."
Rep. Collins is just one of several GOP House members who have signed on in support of a resolution introduced by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) that condemns the inaction and ineptitude displayed by Sec. Buttigieg and demands his immediate resignation from the Biden administration.
"Over the last two years, Secretary Buttigieg has gone AWOL during multiple national crises," Waltz said in a statement. "From failing to immediately respond to last month’s major economic, environmental, and humanitarian disaster in East Palestine to neglecting his duties during a historic supply chain crisis, commercial flight crisis, rail worker strike, and so much more, Buttigieg has endangered and failed the American people time and time again. That’s why I am calling for his resignation."
Buttigieg had indeed proven himself to be an utterly incompetent failure in his current role but, unfortunately, and despite a majority of Americans being in agreement that he must go, it seems highly unlikely that Buttigieg will resign as the disgrace that he is anytime soon.
