Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg flew to Portugal for a holiday, where government and union negotiators worked to prevent a nationwide rail staff’ strike earlier this yr.
The secretary’s previously unknown “personal trip” to Porto took place every week before Amtrak announced it was canceling long-distance services in anticipation of a strike, The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday.
“The secretary made a long-planned personal trip from August 29 to September 5,” a Department of Transportation spokesman told multiple outlets. “As usual when traveling on private time, he remained available and involved with urgent matters, which on this case meant multiple calls to staff and stakeholders to work through rail job negotiations.”
The strike threatened to cost the US economy greater than $2 billion a day in output.
![Photo of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Congress_Rail_Strike_82539jpg-5075a-1.jpg?w=1024)
Biden administration negotiators finally managed to reach a preliminary agreement with eight of the 12 railroad unions on September 15, and Congress forced a deal on them earlier this month.
On September 1, while still on vacation, Buttigieg tweeted a video that suggested he was at a US airport. The previous mayor of South Bend, Indiana, wore a suit and advertised DOT’s latest customer support desk in a video.
President Biden cited the “labor” of Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese and Buttigieg when The White House announced a tentative agreement.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who voted against imposing a contract on union groups, stabbed Buttigieg on Twitter on Wednesday for leaving.
“It’s nice that Mayor Pete had time to vacation in Europe while forcing railroad staff to work without sick days,” Hawley wrote.
Buttigieg’s travel habits also made headlines earlier this week when it was reported that he had flown taxpayer-funded private jets 18 times since taking office in January 2021.
According to the report, Buttigieg used two taxpayer-funded Cessna 560XL jets operated by the Federal Aviation Administration on trips to states including Nevada, Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio and Recent Hampshire.