President-elect Joe Biden has picked his former competitor in the 2020 Democratic election as his Transporation Secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Pete Buttigieg would become the first openly gay cabinet secretary. His run for the Democratic presidential candidate was also historic, as he is the first openly gay American to do so.
Buttigieg suspended his campaign in March and became a vocal spokesperson for Biden shortly thereafter. Buttigieg made several appearances on Fox News in which he was quick to defend both Biden and Harris during the debates. At 38, he’s the youngest of Biden’s cabinet picks and is the first millennial to be selected.
Buttigieg told Biden he’s “eager to do everything in my power to see that this administration succeeds.”
He said he has “a personal love of transportation,” recounting 1,000-mile-long train trips on Amtrak while in college, and said he proposed to his now-husband, Chasten, in an airport terminal. “Don’t let anyone tell you O’Hare isn’t romantic,” he joked.
CNN reports that Biden’s transportation secretary will play a big role in the president-elect’s “push for a bipartisan infrastructure package.” At the beginning of Trump’s presidency, he promised voters an overhaul of American roads and bridges, which was never delivered on. Biden, however, has said their focus will be on public transportation and railways.
Biden said transportation is at “the intersection of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better,” quoting one of his campaign slogans. He said his infrastructure improvement proposals would include the “second great railroad revolution,” and that he would seek funding “to build more climate-resilient communities to deal with more extreme floods, droughts, and superstorms.” Biden also said the U.S. “can own” the market for electric vehicles.
Prior to introducing Buttigieg, Biden defended the diversity of his appointees and intended nominees, implicitly pushing back against some criticism he’s received from various corners about the makeup of his core team of advisers.
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