Pete Buttigieg could be Joe Biden’s pick for US transportation secretary
- Such an opportunity would give Pete Buttigieg a valuable springboard for any future political plans
- Joe Biden has said Buttigieg had ‘unlimited potential’, comparing him to his late son, Beau
Pete Buttigieg is emerging as a leading contender to be US President-elect Joe Biden's secretary of transportation, according to a CNN report.
Buttigieg's nomination would catapult the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to the upper echelons of the federal government, putting him in charge of an agency with roughly 58,000 employees.
It is widely expected that the 38-year-old Buttigieg, who represents a new generation of Democratic leadership, will run for president again. An opportunity in the federal government would give Buttigieg a valuable springboard for any future political plans, especially given the difficulties that Democrats face running statewide in Indiana – the Midwestern state that overwhelmingly supported the Trump-Pence ticket in both 2016 and 2020 and re-elected Republican Governor Eric Holcomb in November.
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The discussions regarding the position are ongoing, according to CNN, but several other candidates are said to have been considered for the role, including Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, and former mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago.
The current transportation secretary is Elaine Chao, who has served in the role since January 2017 and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
After Buttigieg withdrew from the presidential race, Biden spoke of the former mayor in glowing terms, saying he had “unlimited potential” and even comparing him to his late son, Beau.