Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was on vacation in Portugal for a week amid tense negotiations to avert a national rail strike earlier this year, it was revealed on Wednesday.
The trip spanned August 29 through the following Monday, Labor Day, a statement by the Department of Transportation to DailyMail.com confirms.
A spokesperson for the department said he was 'traveling on personal time' but remained 'engaged on urgent issues.'
They said the trip had been 'long planned' in advance.
It was reported earlier this week that Buttigieg took at least 18 flights on taxpayer-funded private jets since joining the Cabinet, despite leading calls to cut CO2 emissions.
Buttigieg was reportedly vacationing in Porto, Portugal, a popular tourist destination on the European country's coast, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Meanwhile, talks were ongoing that eventually resulted in the White House becoming involved, in order to avoid a strike that would have cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars per day.
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