Rubio Calls for Buttigieg to Resign Amidst Train Derailments

Sen. Marco Rubio

Throughout the past few months and even before the 2022 midterms, Republicans in both chambers of Congress have called for the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas to resign. Congressional lawmakers have called out the unprecedented number of undocumented immigrants and harmful substances that have crossed the border illegally as just cause for his resignation.

However, due to the recent failures of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the train derailments in South Carolina, Texas, and most notably in East Palestine, Ohio, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is now calling for the resignation of the Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In a letter to President Joe Biden (D), Sen. Rubio urges the Commander-in-Chief to request Buttigieg to step down.

“I write to urge you to request the immediate resignation of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Buttigieg, who has repeatedly demonstrated a gross level of incompetence and apathy that is detrimental to the safety and prosperity of the American people,” writes Sen Rubio.

He went on to mention the idea that the Transportation Secretary has been passive and detached from his post, going as far as to say that he “has little regard for the duties of the Secretary of Transportation.”

“At no time has that been more apparent than the past two weeks. Secretary Buttigieg refused to acknowledge the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, until his intentional ignorance was no longer tenable. Even after acknowledging the tragedy, he continues to deflect any accountability for the safety of our nation’s rail system. The circumstances leading up to the derailment point to a clear lack of oversight and demand engagement by our nation’s top transportation official,” Rubio penned to the President.

"Airline chaos, FAA meltdowns, trains derailing @POTUS what does @SecretaryPete have to do to get fired?" stated Rubio.

In December, Rubio criticized the Transportation Secretary for allegedly using an unsubstantiated amount of taxpayer dollars in order to fly around the nation.

Buttigieg went to Harvard and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and literature and studied at Oxford’s Pembroke College as well. Prior to running for the seat in the oval office during the last Presidential election cycle, Buttigieg served as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. That is the only office he was elected to before becoming the Secretary of the DOT.