Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was reportedly in paternity leave in August as the nation’s supply chain chaos unfolded from coast to coast.
“Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been on paternity leave since mid-August – with his time off coming amid the Biden administration’s efforts to quell the supply chain crunch and the ongoing infrastructure debate on Capitol Hill to move forward with President Biden’s agenda,” reports Fox News.
“For the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told Politico Playbook this week. “He has been ramping up activities since then.”
“Supply chain issues are a source of mounting concern as global economies attempt to meet surging demand and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortages of basic household items, such as toilet paper, raw materials needed for construction and critical tech components, like semiconductors, have contributed to a surge in prices for consumers,” adds Fox.