Months into the supply chain crisis, with empty grocery stores shelves in cities across the country, the White House is touting a trip made by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttieg this week to busy ports in California. For weeks, boats have been sitting offshore with goods unable to be offloaded and delivered.
"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Tuesday, highlighting improvements that have come under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Supply Chain Task Force," the White House released in a statement. "Early in the day, Secretary Buttigieg met with labor leaders and state officials to discuss the Emerging Projects Agreement between DOT and California, which supports innovative integrated projects to facilitate the movement of imports and exports in the state."
"After the meeting, Secretary Buttigieg took a boat tour from the Port of Los Angeles to the Port of Long Beach, where representatives from the ports updated him on port operations and highlighted how recent DOT investments helped improve the movement of goods," the statement continues. "On arriving at the Port of Long Beach, Secretary Buttigieg held a press conference highlighting a recent $52 million grant to the Port of Long Beach, progress of the Supply Chain Task Force, and how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments will help modernize the movement of goods in California in the future years."
.@SecretaryPete is touring the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for the first time as Secretary of @USDOT.
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) January 11, 2022
40% of all imports in the U.S. come through here and @PeteButtigieg is discussing millions recently pledged by the Biden Administration. pic.twitter.com/1PQKvNlfLW
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But the supply chain crisis is far from over and actually getting worse.
On December 22, Biden claimed victory on the supply chain crisis, claiming “the much-predicted crisis didn’t occur."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 12, 2022
On Friday, “there were 105 ships waiting for berths at Los Angeles and Long Beach. That’s the highest number ever”https://t.co/0b5fKbrqEc
With a shortage of workers and supply chain issues, inflation surged to 7% in December—the highest it’s been in 40 years!
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) January 12, 2022
This is a tax on hard-working American families.https://t.co/X708BlOtgZ
When the supply chain crunch started to compound over the summer, Buttigieg was nowhere to be found. After a search, it was revealed he was on a three-month long paternity leave, during which he traveled to Chicago to film a documentary about himself.
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