On Monday, Omar called on lawmakers to examine the incident and recommended that Buttigieg take “direct action” to address the situation. “East Palestine railroad derailment will have a significant negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the residents for decades and there is almost zero national media attention,” she commented.

The remarks came as several Republicans criticized Buttigieg for remaining silent on the incident, which occurred on February 3. The official appeared at the National Association of Counties Conference on Monday to discuss matters such as racial equity in the construction sector even as he failed to mention the crisis. He broke his silence on the derailment Monday evening by promising that he would continue to “be concerned about the impacts” of the derailment on local families “in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own.”