Please Do Not Go After Pete Buttigieg for Taking Paternity Leave
- January 13, 2023
Getting around the country over this past holiday season has been hell, and so it’s not exactly unfair to be critical of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg—especially when his latest public remarks on the recent, utter chaos plaguing airports this week were something akin to a meaningless, corporate listicle. But one reason to not come for the former South Bend, Indiana mayor is that he took time off work to raise his kids and be with his family, which is well within his rights as a worker.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Fox News from yet again descending into a meltdown over Buttigieg’s paternity leave in 2021—a whole two years later. In a Thursday report, the outlet cites documents obtained by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) via FOIA request that show the transportation secretary—gasp!—not taking work-related calls or scheduling meetings while he was out on paternity leave and spending time with his newborn twins. Grassley requested the documents as he lobbied Buttigieg for funds for a new bridge in his state, shortly before Buttigieg left on paternity leave.