Pete Buttigieg to Testify for Transportation Secretary Appointment at Senate Confirmation Hearing

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Buttigieg is expected to play a central role in President Joe Biden’s campaign for a bipartisan infrastructure package. During the campaign, Biden proposed spending $ 1.3 trillion over 10 years to build schools, roads, bridges, railroads and pipes, expand broadband access and usher in an “economy. 100% clean energy ”.

“We need to rebuild our economy, better than ever,” Buttigieg is expected to say, according to his prepared remarks. “The Department of Transportation can play a pivotal role in this regard, by implementing President Biden’s infrastructure vision, creating millions of well-paying jobs, revitalizing communities left behind, enabling small businesses, workers , for American families and farmers to compete and win the global economy and fight the climate crisis. “

Buttigieg has often spoken of infrastructure on the election track from the perspective of a small town mayor, saying local governments like the one he once led needed people in Washington who understood their needs and issues.

Some top Democrats believed Biden wanted to get Buttigieg, 39, a prominent position in order to elevate a rising star in the Democratic Party. Buttigieg’s future aspirations are no secret, but the former mayor’s political future in his conservative home state has long been an obstacle.

Buttigieg served as mayor of South Bend from 2012-2020 and served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves for six years. He was deployed for six months in Afghanistan in 2014.
After his return, Buttigieg went gay in a 2015 essay for the South Bend Tribune. Later that year, then-mayor Buttigieg was re-elected.

Buttigieg spoke often of being gay during his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and for many LGBTQ Americans he has become a symbol of progress. His marriage to Chasten Buttigieg and his presidential campaign normalized being gay and married in presidential politics.

“I am proud to have him by my side and I want to thank him for his many sacrifices and his support in enabling me to continue in public service,” Buttigieg said of her husband.

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

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