President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Should he make it through the chamber, Buttigieg, one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, will be the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ Cabinet secretary.
Biden has always spoken glowingly of the 38-year-old and his selection would catapult the Democratic primary into a top job in the incoming administration.
The Harvard-and-Oxford-educated Buttigieg is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party but someone who lacked an obvious path to the higher elected office given the continued rightward shift of his home state of Indiana.
This nomination could earn him, what many Democrats believe, some much-needed experience should he run for president in the future.
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Buttigieg emerged as the leading candidate for the transportation secretary role in recent days. The former mayor was considered for a host of other posts, including US ambassador to the United Nations and commerce secretary, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the role of transportation secretary is expected to play a central role in Biden’s push for a bipartisan infrastructure package.
After ending his presidential campaign before Super Tuesday, Buttigieg endorsed Biden throughout the election season.
Lauding Buttigieg, Biden compared the former Navy officer to his late son Beau Biden in March. “I know that may not mean much to most people, but to me it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman,” Joe Biden said at the time.
Priorly, Buttigieg had served as the mayor of South Bend since 2012. He did not seek reelection in 2019. In 2014, he put his civic duties on hold to deploy as a US Navy intelligence officer in Afghanistan.
In a 2015 essay for South Bend Tribune, Buttigieg came out as gay while serving as mayor. His husband, Chasten Buttigieg, is a drama teacher.
