Joe Biden has picked Pete Buttigieg, his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, to be his transportation secretary, in a move which would make the former South Bend mayor first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to a cabinet post.
The nomination came as more picks for senior positions in Biden’s incoming administration emerged on Tuesday, including Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, to run the energy department.
Buttigieg confirmed he had been tapped as transportation secretary in a tweet on Tuesday evening, saying he was “honored”.
This is a moment of tremendous opportunity—to create jobs, meet the climate challenge, and enhance equity for all.
I’m honored that the President-elect has asked me to serve our nation as Secretary of Transportation.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) December 16, 2020
Biden said in a statement that Buttigieg was a “patriot and a problem-solver who speaks to the best of who we are as a nation”.
“I am nominating him for secretary of transportation because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us,” Biden said, “Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT, the site of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better.”
Biden’s decisions comes as he rounds out his cabinet of top officials to run federal agencies, having already selected former Obama adviser Tony Blinken as his secretary of state, retired Army Gen Lloyd Austin as his secretary of defense and former Fed chair Janet Yellen as his treasury secretary. He’s also picked former agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in the Biden administration, and Ohio representative Marcia Fudge to serve as housing secretary.
Buttigieg is one of the few white men Biden has picked to serve as a cabinet secretary.
Granholm’s selection as energy secretary was widely reported on Tuesday and confirmed to the Associated Press by four people familiar with the plans, although Granholm has yet to comment publicly.
Granholm served two terms as Michigan’s governor and defeated the husband of the US education secretary, Betsy DeVos, to win her second term. In November, she penned an op-ed for the Detroit News calling for Michigan’s auto industry to invest in a low-carbon economy, stating that “the time for a low-carbon recovery is now”.
“She’s really a student of the [energy] transition,” Skip Pruss, who directed the Michigan department of energy, labor, and economic growth under Granholm, told Politico. “If you were to ask me what was a limitation in Michigan, I would say that she was slightly ahead of her time.”
Buttigieg, 38, ran an upstart presidential campaign and proved to be a competitive candidate with a knack for building a notable warchest. After he dropped out of the Democratic primary for president, he quickly endorsed Biden.
Buttigieg’s name had floated around lists for multiple cabinet positions. He was often mentioned as a possible candidate for ambassador to the United Nations, a position that some of his supporters noted could help improve his international relations credentials and give him an opening to New York donors. But Buttigieg was passed up for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran American diplomat.
His name had been mentioned for other positions including secretary of Veterans Affairs. But Buttigieg, a navy veteran, was not interested in that job, according to multiple Democratic supporters. Buttigieg’s team has denied any report or suggestion that he turned down an offer to run that department. He had also been mentioned as a possible secretary of commerce.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Buttigieg struggled to get any traction among African American voters. He will probably face similar questions on how his tenure as mayor of South Bend affected African Americans. Still, as transportation secretary Buttigieg will be involved in a part of the Biden administration that affects African Americans across the country.
Buttigieg’s appointment was met with praise by some high-profile Democrats.
“As a former mayor, he knows the importance of investing in safer, more efficient interstate roads and bridges, and in the connections provided by a secure rail network,” New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, said in a statement. “President-elect Biden has chosen the right person to lead on delivering the promise of clean energy and electric vehicles, on creating new union jobs, and on investments in environmental justice – all of which are inextricably intertwined within our transportation infrastructure.”
Biden’s selection of Buttigieg for transportation secretary drew praise from LGBTQ rights groups, with one calling it “a new milestone in a decades-long effort” to have LGBTQ representation in the US government.
“Its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead,” added Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute.
The South Bend chapter of Black Lives Matter, however, denounced Buttigieg‘s impending nomination. The group had made their displeasure of Buttigieg known during his presidential campaign, following the 2019 South Bend shooting of a Black man by a white police officer.
“We saw Black communities have their houses torn down by his administration,” said Jorden Giger, BLM’s South Bend leader, in a statement, referring to Buttigieg‘s effort to tear down substandard housing. “We saw the machinery of his police turned against Black people.”
Biden also plans to tap the former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy to become his domestic climate czar, spearheading Biden’s ambitions for a massive, coordinated domestic campaign to slow climate change. Her counterpart in climate efforts will be the former secretary of state John Kerry, earlier named by Biden as his climate envoy for national security issues.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
