Biden Expected To Name Former Rival Buttigieg As Transportation Secretary

Pete Buttigieg, seen in 2019, is expected to be named Joe Biden's transportation secretary. He's former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Democratic presidential candidate.

By Brian Naylor

December 15, 2020

Updated December 16, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden plans to name former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his secretary of transportation, a union source familiar with the transition tells NPR's Don Gonyea.

Buttigieg, one of Biden's former rivals in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, is the first openly LGBTQ person to be nominated for a permanent cabinet position.

Annise Parker, president & CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, called the expected nomination a "milestone," and said in a statement that "its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead. It distances our nation from a troubled legacy of barring out LGBTQ people from government positions and moves us closer to the President-elect's vision of a government that reflects America."

As head of the DOT, Buttigieg would oversee an agency of some 53,000 employees, with oversight of the nation's airline industry, along with railroads, commercial trucking, mass transit and pipelines.

It could become a high-visibility post for the 38-year-old Buttigieg, if Biden follows through on his campaign promises to rebuild the nation's infrastructure.