Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter to President Biden insisting that he must fire Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The New York Post reports that this follows the derailment of a train that dumped toxic chemicals into the Earth and air near East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month.
Rubio says that Buttigiegs response (or lack thereof) is yet the latest sign that he is not competent to serve in the role that he serves now. Rubio wrote the following in his letter:
For two years, Secretary Buttigieg downplayed and ignored crisis after crisis, while prioritizing topics of little relevance to our nations transportation system. It is painfully clear to the American people that Secretary Buttigieg has little regard for the duties of the Secretary of Transportation.
He continued in the letter by saying:
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 nations rail system. The circumstances leading up to the derailment point to a clear lack of oversight and demand engagement by our nations top transportation official.
A cargo train carrying 20 cars of hazardous chemicals headed from Pennsylvania to Illinois was derailed on February 3, 2023. This caused significant issues for people in East Palestine, Ohio, and many other nearby communities. Therefore, it is of grave concern to the people in the area and anyone else who might be impacted by exposure to the chemicals dumped by the train.
Buttigieg didnt respond to the crisis at all until February 13. It was only at that time that he tweeted, in part: I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the February 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own.
This is a simply unacceptable delay in response, and Rubio and others insist that Buttigieg still needs to do more to get in front of the situation with these trains. It could put peoples lives in danger right now. Rubio insists that he ignores some of his core responsibilities as Transportation Secretary.
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