The Senate has voted to confirm former presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary, the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post.
The final vote was 86-13. A number of prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and both of Indiana’s senators, Sens. Mike Braun and Todd Young.
“I’m excited to call him Secretary Pete,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on ahead of the vote.
Prominent “no” votes included Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Tom Cotton (R-AK).
In a Twitter post, Buttigieg said that he’s “honored and humbled” by the Senate vote, adding that he’s “ready to get to work.”
A number of prominent figures and organizations congratulated Buttigieg on his history making confirmation, including the Human Rights Campaign.
Praised by Biden as bringing a “new voice” to the administration, Buttigieg would take over a Transportation Department with 55,000 employees and a budget of tens of billions of dollars.
Buttigieg has pledged to quickly get to work promoting safety and restoring consumer trust in America’s transportation networks as airlines, buses, city subway systems, and Amtrak reel from plummeting ridership in the coronavirus pandemic.
He is also expected to play a large role in the Biden administration’s climate initiatives and infrastructure plans, two critical positions for the president.
Buttigieg is expected to help oversee stronger automotive fuel economy standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the president’s push later this year on a sweeping $2 trillion climate and infrastructure plan. That plan will focus in part on rebuilding roads and bridges and expanding zero-emission mass transit while boosting electric vehicle infrastructure, including building 500,000 charging stations over the next decade.
During his hearing, some Republican senators signaled fights ahead over the cost and scope of updating the nation’s roads and bridges, rails and airports, a goal long promised by Donald Trump but never fulfilled in his four years as president. The senators questioned in particular the Biden administration’s effort to redirect money for green initiatives, but said they looked forward to further discussions with Buttigieg.
Buttigieg easily cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on a 21-3 vote, drawing widespread bipartisan praise.
“I look forward to seeing Pete Buttigieg confirmed by the full Senate,” ranking Republican Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) said. “Transportation issues historically have been addressed on a bipartisan basis, and I expect to continue that practice with Mr. Buttigieg.”
The Afghanistan war veteran burst onto the national scene in 2019 after launching a longshot presidential bid, drawing initial skepticism due to his youth and limited government experience. He outperformed expectations after zeroing in on a message of generational change, finishing the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses in a virtual tie with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Buttigieg struggled to appeal to Black voters and dropped out of the race after a crushing loss to Biden in the South Carolina primary. Buttigieg chose to quickly endorse Biden, helping him solidify centrist support against Sanders’ strong liberal challenge.
The former South Bend mayor will bring diversity to the Cabinet. There hasn’t been an openly gay Cabinet secretary before. Under President Donald Trump, Richard Grenell served as acting director of national intelligence and is openly gay, but did not have to face Senate confirmation as an acting director. In the late 1990s, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott blocked a vote on President Bill Clinton’s pick for ambassador to Luxembourg, James Hormel, over his sexual orientation; Clinton ultimately installed Hormel with a recess appointment.
Buttigieg says he recalled watching the treatment of Hormel’s nomination as a 17-year-old and seeing the limits. Buttigieg says it proved to be an important crack in the glass ceiling for the LGBTQ community.
“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 said on 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,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
