WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A federal watchdog has sued the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) alleging that it failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking details about Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s paternity leave.
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 2 after the DOT denied their request for expedited processing on Feb. 8 while stating they would respond within five to seven weeks.
“The worst-case scenario is that we don't ever get the records,” said Michael Chamberlain, director of PPT. “We're looking to be able to determine what happened or if there were some circumstances in which someone acted unethically or acted in violation of their obligations by making unauthorized decisions because the secretary may not have been available due to paternity leave.”
The DOT has faced criticisim for its handling of the supply chain crisis clogging U.S. ports.
“We're not saying an unauthorized person made decisions but that's one of the ranges of possibilities that could happen and, in that case, if there was someone who really was not authorized to make certain decisions, it could lend itself to those decisions being challenged,” Chamberlain told Legal Newsline.
Buttigieg was on paternity leave at the height of the supply chain crisis, beginning in or around mid-August 2021, according to media reports.
“If he's fulfilling his obligations on the job from home, that's fine but that's not paternity leave,” Chamberlain said. “It was several weeks after he had presumably started his paternity leave that there was any kind of public mention and what we're trying to get the records to reveal what happened during that time? Was he working from home and still performing all of the duties of his office or was there someone else who he had delegated to perform those duties? We don’t know.”
As of June 2, the day the lawsuit was filed, the FOIA request had been pending for more than 160 days, which is beyond the length of time federal agencies are allowed to make a determination about a FOIA request.
“In a large organization like this, or any organization, if someone makes the decision to step aside from their responsibilities for a certain period of time, there should be some contingency plan for the agency to continue to do the work they need to do especially when you're looking at an organization with the budget the size of the DOT and how what they do has an impact on the everyday lives of the American public,” Chamberlain added.