President Joe Biden and his top officials have come under increasing fire for using their private jets, even as the administration is determined to limit greenhouse gas emissions such as those jets produce in abundance.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and even Biden himself have all faced criticism over the use of private jets powered by carbon compounds and taxpayers’ money.
Recently, the Department of Transportation (DOT) declined repeated requests for information regarding the taxpayer costs of 23 flights Buttigieg and his advisers have taken on government private jets since taking office.
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The DOT and the agency’s Freedom of Information Act office both declined to detail how much each flight has cost taxpayers over the course of several months and in recent weeks. The holdback comes amid an ongoing inspector general audit of Buttigieg’s use of the planes, which are part of a small fleet operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
BUTTIGIEG STONEWALLS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT 23 GOVT JET TRIPS MIDDLE INSPECTOR GENERAL PROBE
“It is inexcusable that Secretary Buttigieg’s desk is hiding the detailed cost of these taxpayer-funded flights,” Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital. “Federal law dictates the timely release of exactly these kinds of documents to the public.”
“The American people have a right to know the true cost of Buttigieg and his entourage of staffers flying privately to destinations that have readily available commercial options.”
Last month, John Kerry’s family quietly sold their private jet to a New York-based hedge fund after intense criticism of the plane’s carbon footprint in light of Kerry’s work fighting global warming.
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Fox News Digital reviewed FAA registration information showing the Kerry family’s private jet, a Gulfstream GIV-SP, is no longer owned by his family’s charter company, Flying Squirrel LLC, according to FAA registration information reviewed by Fox News Digital.
John Curry (AP Photo / Gustavo Moreno / File)
BIDEN’S FREQUENT DELAWARE TRIPS HAVE COSTED TAXPAYERS AT LEAST $11 MILLION
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In financial filings filed since joining the Biden administration, Kerry had reported that his wife, Teresa Heinz-Kerry, owned more than $1 million in the company.
Last year, Fox News Digital reporting revealed that Biden’s regular trips to his home state of Delaware have cost taxpayers at least $11 million since the beginning of his presidency, as of November 2022.
President Joe Biden (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images/File)
JOHN KERRY FAMILY PRIVATE JET SOLD SHORT AFTER CLIMATE HYPOCRISY ALLEGATIONS
According to data provided by former CBS correspondent Mark Knoller, Biden made 57 trips to Delaware, covering all or part of 185 days.
The trips require taxpayers’ money to fund the costs associated with using Air Force One or Marine One, as well as Secret Service security costs. The president spends time in Delaware at his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach.
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The entanglements of the president and his top executives with private jet fiascos come even as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters that Biden and the caucus have formed “an incredibly strong partnership” to date and that he is America’s “most progressive president” in years.
Brianna Herlihy is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
