Mayor Pete orders citizens to stop using drones to find stranded victims as feds fumble hurricane response



United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, announced on Wednesday temporary flight restrictions "near or around rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene."

Buttigieg stated, "Our goal is to make sure that funding is no obstacle to very quickly get people the relief that they need and deserve."

'This is biblical-level devastation. This is apocalyptic, the things that we see out there.'

"There's also some safety issues that come up," he continued. "For example, temporary flight restrictions to make sure that the airspace is clear for any flights or drone activity that might be involved in helping to allow those emergency responders to do their job."

The Transportation Department posted a video of Buttigieg's comments, adding, "Drone pilots: Do not fly your drone near or around rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene. Interfering with emergency response operations impacts search and rescue operations on the ground."

During a Wednesday press briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that the federal government lacks the funds to fully respond to such disasters, Blaze News previously reported.

"We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds," Mayorkas remarked.

America First Legal reported that the Biden-Harris administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency blew a significant portion of its funding on illegal immigrants.

"The Biden-Harris FEMA spent over $1 BILLION on funding illegal aliens," AFL stated.

Many have expressed frustration and dissatisfaction with the federal government's disaster relief response for American citizens residing in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) torched the administration for its lackluster efforts to help Americans, particularly those living in rural areas.

Kemp told WRDW, "When the first emergency declarations came down, there was only 11 counties in that. A lot of people were outraged, including me, because there was such devastation in up to 90 counties."

"So we called the White House. We spoke to the president's chief of staff, the FEMA administrator and said, 'Look, you're sending the signal that you're not paying attention to some of these rural communities,'" he continued.

At least 200 people have been confirmed dead.

"It was a massive storm, and we're dealing with things statewide, even the metro-Atlanta area had record flooding. We had mudslides. We had to evacuate people below lakes and ponds up in the northeast part of the state, so we've been dealing with it," Kemp told the news outlet.

Tim Kennedy, co-founder of Save Our Allies, recently told Fox Business that FEMA is getting in the way of his team's rescue efforts.

"Where is the federal response and the plan?" Kennedy questioned.

When asked whether FEMA was on the ground, he responded, "I mean, they're present. They're in the way. They're directly interrupting our ability to conduct missions and operations."

Kennedy explained that he had attempted to place a couple of people in a hotel earlier this week, but he was unable to do so because federal employees had booked all of the rooms.

"This is biblical-level devastation. This is apocalyptic, the things that we see out there," he added.

On Thursday, Blaze News' Julio Rosas joined Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Rosas noted that a group of veterans and locals had banded together to provide relief to those in need, making deliveries with civilian helicopters, UTVs, and ATVs.

"When I asked about the feds response, one guy said: What response?" Rosas posted on X.

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Amtrak trains keep breaking down, even after historic $66B taxpayer cash infusion. Where is the money being spent?



A new report from the Department of Transportation revealed that Amtrak, a federally chartered company, is still experiencing routine breakdowns and interruptions despite receiving tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to continue operations, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

The passenger rail company was created in 1971 and has never turned a profit. Instead, it has relied on taxpayer dollars to remain operational. The company loses roughly $1 billion per year. According to documents obtained by Open the Books, despite losing money, the company paid its 19,000 workers an average salary of $121,000 for fiscal year 2022.

'Without significant taxpayer support, Amtrak could not operate.'

The Biden administration has funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into the company, including announcing in November a $16.4 billion investment for rail system improvements for its Northeast Corridor. The funding will be used to rebuild tunnels and bridges as well as upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, and stations.

"If the Northeast Corridor shut down for a single day, it would cost the economy $100 million in lost productivity," the White House previously stated.

The administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked $66 billion for rail improvements, which the administration boasted was the "largest investment" in Amtrak's history. As part of this investment, the Biden administration allocated $3.07 billion to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The project has not made significant progress since it was approved in 2008.

According to the White House, Biden envisions turning Amtrak into a "world-class passenger rail" experience. The investments aim to "ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying."

Approximately 22.93 million traveled aboard Amtrak in fiscal year 2022, Statista reported. From January through December 2022, roughly 853 million passengers traveled with U.S. airlines.

The DOT's latest report revealed that from 2021 through July 9, 2024, Amtrak experienced 333 incidents nationwide, slightly fewer than the 397 incidents that occurred during the Trump administration between 2016 and July 2020, the DCNF reported.

Since Biden took office, there have been 66 derailments, 84 obstructions, 115 incidents involving trains crossing over roadways, five fires or "violent ruptures," and 54 events described as "other."

A recent power outage from a malfunctioning circuit breaker interrupted service between New York and Boston last week. WCBS reported that the outage impacted all tracks between Penn Station in New York and Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut.

"Amtrak is communicating directly with customers impacted by these adjustments and offering options for rebooking their travel plans," the company stated. "Amtrak apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the disruption."

Last month, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner addressed the rail company's recent service interruptions, stating, "We understand the impact the recent events had on both Amtrak and NJ Transit customers and their families, and we share their frustration."

"It's vital we work with NJ Transit to identify the root cause of these disruptions and return to on-time service and the quality experience customers expect," Gardner added.

On Monday afternoon, an Amtrak train headed from Kansas City, Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois, derailed. According to the company, a tree on the tracks caused the incident. KCTV reported no injuries.

Last year, House Republicans proposed legislation to cut Amtrak's funding. The Biden administration rejected the cuts, calling them "draconian."

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure argued, "Without significant taxpayer support, Amtrak could not operate."

Neither Amtrak nor the DOT responded to a request for comment from the DCNF.

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Talking head laughs in Buttigieg's face after he glosses over the Biden admin's epic failure



Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was recently asked about one of his boss' unrealistic green schemes, namely the installation of electric vehicle charging stations across the country. His answer prompted CBS' Margaret Brennan to laugh in his face.

Apparently keen to keep the laughs coming, Buttigieg subsequently blamed airline turbulence on climate change.

Only 499,992 to go

Ahead of the 2020 election, then-candidate Joe Biden promised the American people in four debates and during his CNN town hall interview that he would build half a million new charging stations across the nation if elected.

After taking the White House, Biden reiterated his promise, stating in November 2021, "We're going to build out the first-ever national network of charging stations all across the country — over 500,000 of them. ... So you'll be able to go across the whole darn country, from East Coast to West Coast, just like you'd stop at a gas station now. These charging stations will be available."

That month, the then-Democrat-controlled Congress passed a corresponding $1 trillion infrastructure package. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 18 other Republican lawmakers, evidently unswayed by former President Donald Trump's critiques, subsequently helped Democrats pass the measure in the U.S. Senate.

Of the 1,000 billion taxpayer dollars sunk into the bill, $73 billion was designated for updating the nation's electricity grid so it could carry more renewable energy and $7.5 billion to build Biden's promised EV charging stations by 2030.

According to the EV policy analyst group Atlas Public Policy, the funding designated for the rollout should be enough for at least 20,000 charging spots and 5,000 stations.

Now years into the scheme, it appears increasingly unlikely that Biden's costly promise will materialize.

In March, the Federal Highway Administration confirmed to the Washington Post that only seven of Biden's planned 500,000 EV charging stations were operational, amounting to a total of 38 spots for drivers in Hawaii, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to charge their vehicles.

Politico noted last year that that a National Renewable Energy Laboratory study estimated the country will need 1.2 million public chargers by 2030 to meet the demand artificially created by the Biden administration's climate agenda and corresponding regulations. As of June 2023, there were roughly 180,000 chargers nationwide.

House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and other Republican lawmakers penned a February letter to Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, expressing concerns that "American taxpayer dollars are being woefully mismanaged."

Over the weekend, Margaret Brennan pressed the issue further in conversation with the Biden DOT secretary on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Laughable

"Let me ask you about a portion of this that I think does fall under your portfolio, and that's the charging stations you mentioned. The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021," said Brennan. "Why isn't that happening more quickly?"

"So the president's goal is to have half a million chargers up by the end of this decade. Now, in order to do a charger, it's more than just plunking a small device into the ground. There's utility work, and this is also really a new category of federal investment."

"But we've been working with each of the 50 states," continued Buttigieg. "Every one of them is getting formula dollars to do this work."

Brennan leaned in and asked, "Seven or eight, though?"

"Again, by 2030: 500,000 chargers," responded Buttigieg.

Brennan laughed at Buttigieg's suggestion, evidently unable to conceal her disbelief in the possibility that another 499,992 chargers could be installed and operational inside the next six years.

"And the very first handful of chargers are now already being physically built. But again, that's the absolute very, very beginning stages of the construction to come," added Buttigieg.

Despite the Biden administration admittedly being at the "very, very beginning stages," it is nevertheless trying to get gas-consuming cars off the streets and replacing them with EVs that will all rely on the handful of existing charging stations.

In March, the administration announced a rule that would limit the amount of exhaust permitted from cars such that by 2032, over half of the new cars need to be so-called zero-emissions vehicles, reported the New York Times.

Keeping it light

While short on satisfactory answers, Buttigieg still had plenty of alarmism to go around.

The DOT secretary told Brennan, "The reality is the effects of climate change are already upon us in terms of our transportation. We've seen that in the form of everything from heat waves that shouldn't statistically even be possible threatening to melt the cables of transit systems in the Pacific Northwest, to hurricane seasons becoming more and more extreme, and indications that turbulence is up by about 15%."

A study published last year in Geophysical Research Letters suggested that clear-air turbulence "is predicted to become more frequent because of climate change," claiming that the strongest category of clear-air turbulence was 55% more frequent in 2020 than in 1979.

Brennan pressed Buttigieg on whether the kind of extreme turbulence experienced last week by Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, which was traveling from London to Singapore, would soon become more common in the United States.

"To be clear, something that extreme is very rare. But turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly," said Buttigieg. "This is all about making sure that we stay ahead of the curve, keeping aviation as safe as it is."

The "Face the Nation" interview was slapped with a community note on X, noting that National Transportation Safety Board data "shows there is no rising trend in aircraft turbulence incidents."

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Biden admin releases energy grid plan for electric-, hydrogen-powered freight trucks



On Tuesday, the Biden administration released its energy grid plan for electric- and hydrogen-powered long-haul freight trucks, according to a press release from the Department of Energy.

The administration's 16-year power infrastructure plan will install charging and refueling stations along 12,000 miles of high-traffic roads and national highways.

United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said, "For over a century, petroleum-fueled freight has transported vital food and resources to American families, but at the same time, these vehicles have also contributed to lower public health, especially in densely populated communities."

The National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy was developed by the DOE and Joint Office of Energy and Transportation in partnership with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. The plan aims to build zero-emission fueling infrastructure for long-haul, medium- and heavy-duty freight trucks by 2040.

"The Strategy is designed to meet growing market demands by targeting public investment to amplify private sector momentum, focus utility and regulatory energy planning, align industry activity, and improve air quality in local communities heavily impacted by diesel emissions," the DOE's press release read. "Providing ubiquitous and convenient access to electric vehicle (EV) charging and hydrogen refueling along our nation's freight corridors and at intermodal freight facilities and high-usage ports is key to achieving U.S. goals to promote at least 30 percent [zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles] sales by 2030 and 100 percent sales by 2040."

Biden's national climate adviser, Ali Zaidi, noted that 75% of truck traffic travels on 4% of the country's roads. He argued that the strategy would be a "win-win-win" for communities, businesses, and the climate.

The DOE claims the four-phased build-out will have "considerable potential to save Americans money on consumer goods thanks to reduced fueling and maintenance costs associated with transport." The energy grid plan will also provide "significant health benefits for historically disadvantaged populations that suffer the worst impacts of pollution from freight emissions and helping achieve national climate goals," it added.

The first phase of the strategy, to be completed by 2027, will use freight volumes to determine the priority hubs. The next stage will "connect hubs along critical freight corridors" by 2030. The strategy designates another five years to "expand corridor connections initiating network development." Lastly, the fourth phase will "achieve [a] national network by linking regional corridors for ubiquitous access."

According to Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, long-haul freight trucks contribute roughly 23% of the country's transportation greenhouse gas emissions.

"These new designations and strategy will help to grow our national EV charging network, encourage clean commerce within the freight community, and support President Biden's goals of achieving net-zero emissions for the nation by 2050," Bhatt said.

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Pete Buttigieg expresses outrage that Supreme Court didn't prioritize LGBT agenda over Americans' constitutional rights



The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday that Colorado cannot force Christian graphic designer Lorie Smith to create art that violates her religious beliefs, particularly her belief that marriage necessarily entails the union between a man and a woman.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, noted, "The First Amendment’s protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy."

Democratic Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is evidently of a different mind, indicating in an interview over the weekend that the court's prioritization of Americans' constitutional rights over ideological conformity is problematic.

Buttigieg spoke to CBS' Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" about a number issues Sunday, including the airline disruptions neither he nor his department appears capable of resolving.

Brennan raised the matter of the Supreme Court's June 30 decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, then cited Buttigieg's reactive tweet, which read, "Discrimination is wrong. Using religion as an excuse to discriminate is wrong - and unconstitutional. The Court's minority is right: the Constitution is no license for a business to discriminate. Today's ruling will move America backward."

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"Justice Gorsuch said this was a First Amendment issue where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands," said Brennan. "What do you make of the argument that Colorado was labeling free speech as discrimination in order to censor it?"

Buttigieg suggested that cases such as graphic designer Lorie Smith's "are designed to get people spun up and designed to chip away at rights."

In Smith's case, Buttigieg appears to have been referencing the "right" of LGBT activists to call upon the state to force an artist to generate artwork or messaging she finds morally compromising.

"You look at Friday's decision diminishing the equality of same-sex couples. You look at a number of the decisions that have been made; they pose a question that is even deeper than these big cases. And the question is this: Did we just live to see the high water mark of freedoms and rights in this country before they were gradually taken away?" said Buttigieg.

The openly gay Biden secretary, who adopted two children with his "husband," further suggested that the court's ruling jeopardized the generational accretion of rights that has "added up and affected so many people, including me, of course, as I'm getting ready to go back to my husband and our twins for the rest of this morning, thinking about the fact that the existence of our family is is only a reality because of a one-vote margin on the Supreme Court a few years ago."

Buttigieg stressed that the Supreme Court is "very much out of step with how most Americans view these issues."

The Supreme Court has long served America as a countermajoritarian institution, upholding the Constitution even when "out of step" with public opinion.

For instance, the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which saw U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools struck down as unconstitutional, was a deeply unpopular decision at the time. This was especially true of southern Democrats, such as Sen. Harry Byrd Sr. of Virginia, who reckoned the court was out of step with popular opinion and worked ardently to prevent desegregation.

One of the primary reasons Supreme Court justices and other federal judges appointed under Article III of the Constitution hold their posts for life is to spare them from having to pander to the mob — or as Alexander Hamilton put it in Federalist No. 78, to preclude them from developing "too great a disposition to consult popularity."

Brennan also asked Buttigieg about the provocative analogies in the amicus brief co-signed by 20 senators and 48 House members that Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Lee (Utah) co-led, which said, "Compelling an individual to use her artistic and intellectual capabilities to create a message she opposes is the most odious form of compelled expression. Such laws coerce writers and artists into 'betraying their convictions.' ... They are the tool of totalitarian regimes, not the United States."

The brief compared the imposition of Colorado's coercive law on Smith to the requirement that an atheist musician perform at an evangelical church service or a Muslim tattoo artist be "forced to write 'My religion is the only true religion' on the body of a Christian."

Buttigieg responded, "That's really not a comparison that is relevant to this case. But more importantly, I think it's really telling that you have to think of these far-fetched hypotheticals in order to justify decisions that are actually going to have much worse impacts in the real world. And I think this, again, goes back to the broader agenda of the culture wars that are being fired up."

TheBlaze previously reported that President Joe Biden, like his DOT secretary, is upset over the court's ruling in this case.

"While the Court’s decision only addresses expressive original designs, I'm deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans. More broadly, today’s decision weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations – including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women," Biden said in a statement.

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Records Confirm Pete Buttigieg Was Absent During Supply-Chain Crisis

Buttigieg's calendar showed no meetings on the supply-chain crisis while he was on paternity leave for eight weeks.

Pete Buttigieg wants you to buy an expensive EV. But he uses taxpayer money for private jet travel.



When gas prices reached record levels, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg advocated for Americans to purchase electric cars. Not only would it help with gas prices, but he argued it would help save the planet.

But new records show that Buttigieg has a pattern of using taxpayer money to fly on gas-guzzling private jets.

What are the details?

Buttigieg has traveled using private jets in a fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration at least 18 times since becoming secretary of transportation. He has jetted to Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and New Hampshire using the private jets, Fox News reported.

In September, Buttigieg used a private jet to fly to Canada, where he attended the International Civil Aviation Organization conference. But on that trip he also attended an event hosted by a Canadian gay rights organization, where he accepted an award for his "contributions to the advancement of LGBTQ rights."

Taxpayers are responsible for covering the costs of the flights, but it's not exactly clear how much taxpayer money Buttigieg has used to fly private.

Previous reports indicate the FAA charges federal agencies at least $5,000 per hour to fly using its fleet.

It's unclear how Buttigieg's expensive travel coheres with Federal Travel Regulations for federal employees, which explicitly state that "taxpayers should pay no more than necessary for your transportation."

The issue of Buttigieg's travel on private jets is particularly noteworthy because former department secretaries have come under fire for using taxpayer money to fly private. Tom Price, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, even resigned after his excessive use cost more than $1 million and wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

How did the DOT respond?

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation defended Buttigieg's use of private jets.

"Secretary Buttigieg mostly travels by commercial airline, and has directed that travel and logistical decisions be grounded in efficient and responsible use of taxpayer dollars," the spokesperson told Fox News. "Given that commercial air travel is usually the cheapest way for the Secretary and his staff to travel, 108 of the 126 flights for DOT trips he has taken have been on commercial airlines."

"However, there are some cases where it is more efficient and/or less expensive for the Secretary and accompanying personnel to fly on a 9-seater FAA plane rather than commercial flights," the spokesperson said. "Use of the FAA plane in limited, specific cases has helped to maximize efficiency and save thousands of taxpayer dollars."

The spokesperson did not, however, state how much taxpayer money was saved or how flying private was cheaper than flying commercial.

Transportation Department faces accusations of illegal lobbying over meme promoting Biden legislation



The Department of Transportation was accused of violating the law after posting a "meme" to social media promoting President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation.

What are the details?

The Transportation Department published a meme on Friday of a man and woman texting each other from different places. The purpose of the meme was to promote Biden's Build Back Better legislation.

"What are you thinking about?" the woman in the meme asks the man.

"I'm thinking about how the new infrastructure law is going to make getting from place to place so much better over the next decade and how when combined with the Build Back Better Act, it will create millions of new jobs," the man responds.

"Same," the woman replies.

pic.twitter.com/vBVanOBCuK
— TransportationGov (@TransportationGov) 1637940601

The meme promptly generated criticism alleging the Treasury Department was violating anti-lobbying laws that prevent executive branch agencies from promoting certain pending legislation.

  • "This appears to be lobbying. I didn't think federal agencies were allowed to be so blatant in promoting specific legislation. The Secretary of Transportation can, of course, but the DOT's official website? Seems unusual," one person said.
  • "[A]re our tax dollars seriously being used to fund propoganda?Are you aware, as employees of the Executibe (sic) Branch, you have no business commenting on pending legislation? Separation of Powers and all that," another person noted.
  • "The legislation has not passed both houses. You are lobbying, which is illegal," another person observed.

Are critics correct?

The Project On Government Oversight explains, "Executive branch officials and employees are uniquely situated to influence the legislative process given their proximity to and control over various government functions, which is why Congress has enacted legal bans explicitly restricting the lobbying of Congress by executive branch officials and agencies."

In fact, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 states:

No part of any funds appropriated in this or any other Act shall be used by an agency of the executive branch, other than for normal and recognized executive-legislative relationships, for publicity or propaganda purposes, and for the preparation, distribution or use of any kit, pamphlet, booklet, publication, radio, television, or film presentation designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress, except in presentation to the Congress itself.

Such restrictions on "lobbying" by the executive branch have been in place for more than 100 years.