Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, a favorite of upper-middle-class white progressives, is overrated, to put it kindly. His Obama-esque, smug style may impress insular folks, but his crisis management skills are atrocious.

In late 2021, he quietly went on paternity leave as a supply chain crisis and negotiations over a crucial infrastructure bill transpired. Last summer, as railroaders threatened to strike and cripple the U.S. economy, he vacationed in Europe. The 41-year-old was notoriously inept when Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights and destroyed holiday travel plans for many Americans.

His current handling of the massive train derailment in eastern Ohio has been haphazard and, as importantly, ineffectual.