On Tuesday, President-Elect Joe Biden officially announced that Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a leading frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primaries, to become the next Secretary of Transportation, taking over the job currently held by Elaine Chao. The nomination is a significant one for America, for Biden’s cabinet, and for Buttigieg personally.
Though I aim to cover more of Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees in a future post when all of them have been fully announced (likely before Christmas), I would like to discuss the selection of Buttigieg specifically in this post.
However, to understand the choosing of Buttigieg, we must first discuss the current state of Biden’s cabinet picks. It is clear that Biden is making diversity a priority in his cabinet: off all the cabinet announcements so far, just five are white men (Antony Blinken for Secretary of State, Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture, Denis McDonough for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Ron Klain for Chief of Staff, and Jake Sullivan for National Security Adviser).
He has picked Kamala Harris to be his Vice President, the first-ever woman (and of color) to serve in that role. He has picked a Black man, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, to serve as Secretary of Defense, and has picked women (including many of color) to serve in many top cabinet roles. These picks mean that Biden’s cabinet is expected to be one of the most diverse and woman-heavy cabinets to ever exist. Aside from the latest nomination of Buttigieg to be Secretary of Transportation, the graphic below shows all of Biden’s current picks.
It seems that almost all of Biden’s picks have been firsts in terms of the type of person chosen to fill a certain position, and Pete Buttigieg is no different. Should he be confirmed, he will not only be the first openly gay person to serve in this position, he will also be the first-ever LGBTQ person to hold a cabinet-level position.
Buttigieg, at age 38, is a relatively newcomer onto the political landscape. The former mayor of the town of South Bend, Indiana (pop. 101,860), he came onto the national landscape when he had a better-than-expected performance in the Democratic presidential debates, eventually winning the Iowa caucuses and placing second in the New Hampshire primaries. Though he eventually withdrew his campaign in March due to his inability to garner enough support, he is seen by many as a rising star in the party, but lacks the experience in a higher office, especially in his ruby-red home state (the highest position he ever held was mayor, as mentioned above).
On the campaign trail, he talked about ambitious infrastructure plans that included revamping much of America’s infrastructure and expanding internet access to rural America. He had rebuked the Trump administration for failing to pass any major infrastructure legislation, causing many projects to be stalled. As mayor, he successfully implemented a “smart sewer” program to prevent flooding and revamped the downtown grid in South Bend to revitalize what was once considered a “dying city.”
With Joe Biden making infrastructure a key part of his campaign (he is a big fan of Amtrak, after all), even though transportation secretary is typically a low-profile job, Buttigieg could be at the forefront of Biden’s ambitious infrastructure campaign.
Serving at a high-level cabinet-level position is sure to give Buttigieg much-needed experience to be elected to higher-level positions in the future, and potentially even a successful run for President of the United States in the future.
The pick for Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation is a good one, and we are all looking forward to seeing the rest of Biden’s cabinet picks as they roll out over the coming days and weeks. The new cabinet will take over one that has consistently prioritized corporate and party interests over Americans and will mark a new era in American politics.
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