President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, according to multiple reports, in a move that will catapult the former mayor from small town roots — after a presidential bid that fell short earlier this year — onto the national scene.
So glad Mayor Pete will be a part of the Biden-Harris administration. He’s smart and caring.
That is a solid position for Pete. I was concerned when I heard ambassador to China.
He needs to move to a state where he can be Governor.
What will Elaine Chao do now? Taiwan on?
“I promise you, you’re going to end up, over your lifetime, seeing a hell of a lot more of Pete than you are of me,”
Could you ever even imagine tRump uttering such words? Biden is a gracious and humble public servant. It’s never about him. In fact, he’s prefers that it not be.
This is a huge, heartbreaking change in store for him, what with having to leave South Bend.
And his experience is…?
The primary feels like a few lifetimes ago. Was transportation a big issue for Mayor Pete or is this just finding him a spot in the cabinet? It’s fine either way. He seemed like a completely competent guy at the time and from the reports I’ve seen, he’s a fighter in his role on Fox.
@kelaine will elaborate, I trust.
Glad they decided on a position for Pete. I’m sure he will excel at whatever they throw at him.
He’ll have to find a way to undo Elaine Chao’s misdeeds. That will be work enough.
Nice. Happy to see Mayor Pete getting a spot. Hopefully it will ride him over until he can run for something else.
Nearly identical to Anthony Fox, Obama’s Transportation Sec. his second term. Both were mayors with ties to the party. Obama’s first Transportation Sec. was a Republican congressman with no specific experience for the role either. The position was used to expand the diversity of the cabinet in all 3 cases.
He’s been transported on numerous occasions. It’s not a fly by night pick. He was not railroaded into accepting the position. He is a genuine mover who will hit the ground running and land this plane. It’s not just a highway to fame.
Over the past 20 years I’ve been employed as a transit planner in a government agency. The previous transportation secretaries under Bush and Obama were always open, accessible and interested in what projects and planning objectives that we were working on. With Elaine Cho aka Madam Nhu she was hardly around and more interested in Kentucky than the nation.
Turning the ship of state around while he’s at it.
Doesn’t he speak fluent Mandarin, as well as a few other languages? To learn to speak Chinese is to learn the culture, so he would be well suited for an ambassadorial position were it offered.
Anthony Foxx who once came to my agency to speak had a vast background in transportation as former chair of the regional MPO and as mayor of Charlotte.
Foxx, yes, but not his predecessor Ray LaHood, who was in some ways the opposite of what was needed.
Anyone who is competent and has had a leadership job in government has had to deal with Transportation. That’s why I’m not worried about whoever they pick. Just be competent, know how to run a large organization and be ready to learn. The only ‘Bad’ thing a Democrat in that post could do is get some hairbrained idea that they know better than all the actual experts. I don’t see that from Mayor Pete, so I don’t even care if he has as much experience specifically with transportation as Foxx did.
I’m sure he’d make a great ambassador to China, but I’m not so sure that is a good place to be when trying to build a political resume.