The United States has been facing a supply chain crisis for months, and things are reaching a head as companies are warning Americans that Christmas could be tough this year.
The issue is part of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s portfolio, yet, as Politico reported Thursday, the secretary “has been MIA” as the crisis has grown.
Turns out, Buttigieg has been out of the office on paternity leave since mid-August.
Supply shortages and rising prices are threatening the U. S. economy, and analysts are warning that the Christmas season could be significantly hampered.
President Joe Biden this week announced a deal with officials and union leaders and workers in Los Angeles to try to ease supply chain disruptions by addressing the bottleneck of container ships off the coast of California that is plaguing operations. The deal will keep L. A. ports open 24/7, but experts told Reuters this week that the deal is too little, too late to fix the issue by Christmas.
The person who is supposed to be dealing with the situation — Secretary Buttigieg — has been missing in action. And Politico took note:
Where has he been? Turns out that he has been on paid paternity leave since the middle of August “to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies,” Politico reported, and the White House didn’t previously announce it.
“For the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated,” a Transportation Department spokesman told the outlet. “He has been ramping up activities since then.”
Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey pointed out that this was a strange move for someone in a Cabinet post.
“Since when have Cabinet secretaries taken months off at a time for parental leave?” M… (Read more)
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