A former South Bend, Indiana mayor, who identifies as an LGBTQ+ community member and is openly gay has been confirmed into the US Senate as a transportation secretary. Pete Buttigieg, who will work with President Joe Biden’s team to achieve ambitious goals of his presidency’s agenda of rebuilding infrastructure and fighting climate change, was approved in the White House position by 86-13 vote. “I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate—and ready to get to work,” the 39-year-old tweeted shortly after he was confirmed for the seat. Buttigieg, a first-ever gay man to run for Cabinet, has been a one time democratic rival of Biden. He made history Tuesday by being elected despite his sexual orientation, affirming Biden’s vision of ‘inclusivity’.
According to NPR, the transport minister will work on the highways, pipelines, air traffic, and railroads, and the country’s infrastructure in its entirety, employing an additional 55,000 workers with him to meet Biden’s infrastructure improvement proposals such as the second great railroad revolution. He would also “build more climate-resilient communities to deal with more extreme floods, droughts, and superstorms”, as per the vision laid down by the administration. At The Tonight Show, The View earlier and other TV shows, the ex-South Bend mayor had expressed doubts over his political career goals, citing instances when former President Bill Clinton’s nominees were denied Senate vote due to their different sexual orientation and identity. In one of the televised addressees, Buttigieg said that he was, in fact, mindful that the eyes of history will be on this appointment.
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Lots of enthusiasm
Calling him the “new voice”, Biden administration welcomed the new transport minister allocating him with billions of dollars budget and entrusting him with restoring the customer trust in America’s transportation networks as airlines, buses, city subway systems, and Amtrak reel amid the pandemic. “We all know the nominee as Mayor Pete, a man who basically came onto the national stage as a Midwest mayor, who had lots of enthusiasm for making investments in America’s future,” Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, the incoming chair of the Senate Commerce Committee was quoted as saying by AP. She further acknowledged Buttigieg’s energy, saying that “he’s a young, energetic mayor who is going to help us usher in a new era of transportation.”
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