Multiple House committees are going to be investigating and conducting Biden administration oversight on the handling of the Feb. 3 train derailment and toxic fallout in East Palestine, Ohio.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have been critical of President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's slow response. Biden had maintained he does not have to visit the site of the "controlled release" that is alleged to have killed local wildlife and potentially contaminated the ground and water supply.
House committees gaveled by Republicans are going to bring it all to Congress and the America public, potentially holding the Biden administration accountable for its handling of the situation — or lack thereof.
House Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter Friday to Buttigieg demanding documents be preserved and provided to the committee.
Also, the Infrastructure Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee are expected to get involved. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, represents East Palestine and was present with Trump this week. He sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
"The infrastructure failure that caused the derailment has led to an environmental disaster," Comer's letter read, Axios reported. "The committee is deeply concerned by DOT's slow pace in resolving this matter."
Buttigieg visited Thursday, but only after Trump was there to call out the Biden administration for "indifference" and "betrayal."
Former New York City Major Rudy Giuliani also met with East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, providing his expertise from the toxic fallout of 9/11. Conaway met with Giuliani while Buttigieg reportedly waited 30 minutes in the hallway outside the mayor's office Thursday.
Giuliani told Newsmax that Buttigieg "doesn't know a damn thing" about crisis management.
Buttigieg did use most of his public comments to blame others, including Trump for the derailment and subsequent toxic fallout. Buttigieg was called out for erroneously claiming the Trump administration deregulation of brake systems might have caused the train to derail, and he also denounced the Trump administration for putting a maximum penalty on business to $250,000.
That also would not have prevented this derailment, "controlled release" to burn off toxic chemicals spilled, and ultimately toxic fallout, Giuliani and other experts noted.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, was also visiting East Palestine during the Trump visit, having said since the spill that "pressure" on the administration was the only way to ensure a response to the Republican-voting area from the Democrat Biden administration.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced Feb. 17 it will also hold a hearing on "environmental and public health impacts" from the Norfolk Southern train derailment. That call was made by both Democrats and Republicans on that committee, but the Democrat-led Senate has mostly been silent on the Biden administration's handling of derailment.
Related Stories:
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.