The Senate is poised to approve Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, the primary brazenly homosexual particular person ever confirmed to a Cabinet submit, tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s wide-ranging agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and combating local weather change.
Buttigieg’s nomination was set for a ultimate vote Tuesday within the full Senate, after the 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Biden’s one-time rival within the Democratic presidential primaries obtained bipartisan reward at his affirmation listening to final week.
“Mr. Buttigieg is an impressive public servant who has already earned the respect and confidence of both sides,” mentioned Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in flooring remarks on Monday. “I look forward to confirming his nomination.”
Praised by Biden as bringing a “new voice” to the administration, Buttigieg would take over a Transportation Department with 55,000 staff and a funds of tens of billions of {dollars}. He has pledged to shortly get to work selling security and restoring shopper belief in America’s transportation networks as airways, buses, metropolis subway techniques and Amtrak reel from plummeting ridership within the coronavirus pandemic.
He can also be anticipated to play an essential function in selling Biden’s local weather initiatives, serving to to oversee stronger automotive gas economic system requirements to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions and help the president’s push later this yr on a sweeping $2 trillion local weather and infrastructure plan. That plan will focus partially on rebuilding roads and bridges and increasing zero-emission mass transit whereas boosting electrical car infrastructure, together with constructing 500,000 charging stations over the subsequent decade.
During his listening to, some Republican senators signaled fights forward over the associated fee and scope of updating the nation’s roads and bridges, rails and airports, a purpose lengthy promised by Donald Trump however by no means fulfilled in his 4 years as president. The senators questioned particularly the Biden administration’s effort to redirect cash for inexperienced initiatives, however mentioned they seemed ahead to additional discussions with Buttigieg. He simply cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on a 21-3 vote.
“I look forward to seeing Pete Buttigieg confirmed by the full Senate,” mentioned Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the highest Republican on the panel. “Transportation issues historically have been addressed on a bipartisan basis, and I expect to continue that practice with Mr. Buttigieg.”
Biden hasn’t indicated how he intends to pay for a broad infrastructure plan, approaching prime of a proposed $1.9 trillion virus reduction plan that has met some headwinds in Congress. Buttigieg’s suggestion throughout his listening to {that a} gasoline tax hike is perhaps wanted was instantly walked again by his spokesman afterward.
“We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in this,” Buttigieg mentioned. He famous that the transportation sector, significantly automobile emissions, is the only greatest contributor within the U.S. to international warming.
The Afghanistan battle veteran burst onto the nationwide scene in 2019 after launching a longshot presidential bid, drawing preliminary skepticism due to his youth and restricted authorities expertise. He outperformed expectations after zeroing in on a message of generational change, ending the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses in a digital tie with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But Buttigieg struggled to enchantment to Black voters and dropped out of the race after a crushing loss to Biden within the South Carolina main. Buttigieg selected to shortly endorse Biden, serving to him solidify centrist help in opposition to Sanders’ robust liberal problem.
Buttigieg now factors to his expertise as a mayor and on the marketing campaign path as useful to his “bottom up” method to bettering transportation. He described initiating a “smart streets” program to make South Bend’s downtown extra pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly whereas spurring lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} in financial funding.
He’ll additionally carry variety to the Cabinet. There hasn’t been an brazenly homosexual Cabinet secretary earlier than. Under President Donald Trump, Richard Grenell served as performing director of nationwide intelligence and is brazenly homosexual, however didn’t have to face Senate affirmation as an performing director. In the late Nineteen Nineties, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott blocked a vote on President Bill Clinton’s decide for ambassador to Luxembourg, James Hormel, over his sexual orientation; Clinton finally put in Hormel with a recess appointment.
Buttigieg says he recalled watching the therapy of Hormel’s nomination as a 17-year-old and seeing the bounds. Buttigieg says it proved to be an essential crack within the glass ceiling for the LGBTQ group.
“As I was in that hearing taking those questions from senators, you could see my husband, Chasten, over my shoulder, and that is something that has never happened before for a Cabinet nominee,” Buttigieg, reflecting on the second, informed ABC’s “The View.” “My hope is that, in turn, makes it easier for the next person to come along, so that this is never even viewed as a barrier by a future generation.”
