Pete Buttigieg may not be back at work yet after taking over two months of paternity leave in the middle of a supply chain crisis, but he’s already decided on his next move.

Per The Hill, the derelict Secretary of Transportation wants to further deflect from his absence by making Tucker Carlson’s past criticisms an issue. Today, Buttigieg appeared on multiple Sunday shows — not to answer for his failures, but to promote paternity leave for men. I mean, it’s not like the guy has an actual job to do, right?

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is aiming to use the fierce criticism he faced from conservatives over taking paternity leave as a way to have a conversation about the issue, amid efforts from the White House to get paid family leave into a social spending bill pending in Congress…

…Carlson’s high-profile criticism drew attention to Buttigeig and the larger issue of paternity leave, something the Transportation secretary went on to discuss during a series of appearances.

During an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Buttigeig said that “paid family leave is important” and noted that “it’s not a vacation.” Separately, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” he said it’s work that “every American ought to be able to do” when they have a new child.

The country is currently facing its worst supply-chain crisis since the 1970s and Buttigieg, whose job is ostensibly to fix the situation, is making the media rounds to talk about how great it is that he disappeared for multiple months. The mind truly boggles, and it shows how little is expected from these mediocre government bureaucrats. Buttigieg failed up as an unimpressive mayor of a small town, because he checked the right identity boxes. Now, we are getting an eyeful of just how incapable he is.

Frankly, I just don’t buy what Buttigieg is saying either. I’m not against all paid family leave. A couple of weeks, especially if there’s a physically recovering mother at home to take care of, is a good thing. But over two months, for a cabinet secretary who is supposed to be overseeing a crisis, is extremely excessive. It’s an abuse of his office and is taking advantage of taxpayers. That he’s so arrogant in defending his actions only makes it worse.

Buttigieg is not the Secretary of Labor. It is not his job to stump for paid family leave at the federal level. It is his job to help get the country’s supply chain moving again. Instead of going to war with Tucker Carlson on the Sunday shows, he should be in his office doing some actual work, and if he can’t fulfill the duties of his role, he should resign. None of this is complicated. Cabinet secretaries do not have the luxury of just not working for months, or at least they shouldn’t.