Biden Taps Pete Buttigieg for Transportation Secretary
Buttigieg, who mounted a failed bid for the Democratic presidential primary, is set to be nominated as transportation secretary by the man who did win the primary and the general election, President-elect Joe Biden, several news organizations reported Tuesday.
Buttigieg, 38, attracted attention during his 2020 bid for president with his combination of progressivism and pragmatism – his health care plan was called "Medicare for All Who Want It," a move toward a single payer plan without forcing people to give up their private insurance. His hyper-intellectualism contrasted with his "Mayor Pete'' accessibility. He kept his sexual orientation private until 2015, when then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allows people to assert religious beliefs as a legal defense.
In 2018, Buttigieg married Chasten Buttigieg (nee Glezman), a personal detail which means Biden's former rival for the nomination would be, if confirmed, the first Cabinet secretary to be in a same-sex marriage.
Buttigieg has been considered a top contender for several posts, such as a high-profile ambassadorship – Buttigieg speaks Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Arabic, Dari Persian, French and self-taught Norwegian – or Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a nod to Buttigieg's time as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
During his first term as mayor, Buttigieg took an unpaid, seven-month leave to deploy to Afghanistan as a specialist in counterterrorism. For his counterterrorism work, he earned the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
As mayor, Buttigieg initiated a program called "Smart Streets," which added bike paths, sidewalks, roundabouts and other infrastructure improvements meant to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly and appealing to new business. He has said the project spurred more than $100 million in direct investment, revitalizing the urban area.
LGBTQ rights groups hailed the reported looming nomination as a long-overdue recognition of the community.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris "are keeping their promise, representing a significant step in creating an administration that reflects the diversity and life experiences of America," Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the country's biggest LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement. "Mayor Pete Buttigieg was open and honest about his identity throughout his time on the national scene, giving a voice to our community, and a new vision of who and how our leaders can love. His voice as a champion for the LGBTQ community in the Cabinet room will help President-elect Biden build back our nation better, stronger and more equal than before."
Annise Parker, president and CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, called Buttigieg's looming nomination "a new milestone in a decades-long effort to ensure LGBTQ people are represented throughout our government – and its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead.
"As an out LGBTQ person, Pete will bring a unique perspective that will inform and influence policy throughout the federal government. Most important, however, is that Pete will bring his intellect and energy to the Department of Transportation and our nation will be better off because of it," Parker said in a statement.
Buttigieg appeared to be the near-opposite of Biden on the campaign trail. Buttigieg was the youngest of the crowded Democratic field, while Biden was the second-oldest. Biden had a long history in Washington politics, while Buttigieg's time in public office was seven years as mayor of the fourth-largest city in the nation's 17th most populous state. Biden made verbal gaffes, while Buttigieg was so articulate in his speeches they often sounded like he was reading from a prepared document, even when he wasn't.
But the two men found a bond after Buttigieg dropped out of the race in March. His endorsement of Biden before Super Tuesday was an important factor in slowing down the momentum of Biden's then-biggest competitor, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
At the time of his endorsement, Buttigieg said he believed Biden would "restore the soul of the nation" if he was elected president. Biden, meanwhile, lauded Buttigieg with perhaps the highest praise the president-elect could offer, comparing the young public servant and military veteran with his son Beau Biden, a former state attorney general and veteran who died of a brain tumor in 2015.
When people talk during the campaign about "passing the torch to the next generation – that's absolutely essential ... there is no limitation to what this man can get done," Biden said in Dallas after Buttigieg endorsed him. "I am absolutely confident, with further exposure of the nation to Pete and all he stands for and what he'll do and what he can do, there is no limitation to what this man can get done.
"I promise you," Biden concluded that March evening as he prepared for the final stretch of the primary, "you're going to end up, over your lifetimes, seeing a hell of a lot more of Pete than you are of me."
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