Buttigieg Says Supply Chain Crisis Caused By Biden’s Success

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that the country’s supply chain problems will continue into 2022. He also said that the supply chain crisis happened mostly due to President Joe Biden’s successful economic recovery programs. 

RELATED: Coronavirus Affects Global Supply Chains, Slows U.S. Manufacturing Activity

Buttigieg Credits Biden’s Successful Economic Recovery Programs for Supply Chain Crisis

In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Buttigieg attributes the breakdown in the US supply chain due to unprecedented demand. He credits Biden for engineering the economic recovery of the US that led to demand outstripping supply. 

“Certainly a lot of the challenges that we’ve been experiencing this year will continue into next year. Look, part of what is happening isn’t just the supply side, it’s the demand side.

Demand is off the charts. Retail sales are through the roof. And if you think about those images of ships, for example, waiting at anchor on the West Coast – every one of those ships is full of record amounts of goods that Americans are buying because demand is up because income is up because the president has successfully guided this economy out of the teeth of a terrifying recession,” he said. 

Supply Chains Can’t Keep Up

Buttigieg added that supply chains can’t cope with demand. “Our supply chains can’t keep up. And of course, our supply chains, that’s a complicated system that is mostly in private hands, and rightly so.

Our role is to be an honest broker, bring together all of the different players there, secure commitments, and get solutions that are going to make it easier.”

In addition, Buttigieg said the supply chain crisis demonstrated a need for House Democrats to pass the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

This bill allocates $17 billion to US ports and terminals. However, the bill remains in limbo due to infighting within the Democratic over the budget. 

Infrastructure Bill Can Help Improve The Ports

Buttigieg said that the infrastructure bill can augment the country’s existing ports. “This is one more example of why we need to pass the infrastructure bill. There is $17 billion in the president’s infrastructure plan for ports alone.

And we need to deal with the long-term issues that have made us vulnerable to these kinds of bottlenecks when there are demand fluctuations, shocks, and disruptions like the ones that have been caused by the pandemic,” he said. 

The Transportation Secretary also stressed the need to pass the infrastructure bill in order to get their bigger bill passed. “The reality is that America needs both of those pieces of legislation.

If you care about inflation, you ought to care about not just the supply chain issues, not just the infrastructure things I work on, but also the provisions in Build Back Better like paid family leave, like making it easier to afford child care, like community college, that is going to give us a stronger labor force and help us work on that major constraint on economic growth,” he said. 

Host Jake Tapper asked Buttigieg if it’s a good idea for Americans to get their Christmas shopping finished early this year.

However, the former South Bend, Indiana mayor parried the question. “Obviously, every family makes its own preparations for Christmas or the other holidays,” Buttigieg replied.

Watch the Fox News video reporting that the GOP pushing to probe Secretary Pete Buttigieg over supply chain crisis:

Do you agree that the supply chain issue is a good problem caused by demand? Do you also agree that the President’s skillful handling of the economy led to problems in the supply chain?

Let us know what you think about the supply chain crisis. Share your comments in the comments section below.