President-Elect Joe Biden will select former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, Politico reported Tuesday.
Buttigieg will be the first former primary rival Biden has tapped to join his cabinet since winning the Nov. 3 election. The nomination will also be Biden’s first since the electoral college officially declared him the winner of the election on Monday, despite weeks of legal challenges from President Donald Trump and his campaign.
NEWS: Joe Biden has selected Pete Buttigieg to serve as secretary of transportation, per people familiar. Story coming with @samjmintz
— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) December 15, 2020
Buttigieg, a former Indiana mayor who burst into the upper echelons of the Democratic Party with his 2020 presidential run, was also reportedly being considered for U.S. ambassador to China. Buttigeig has served overseas with the U.S. military in Afghanistan and studied at both Harvard and Oxford universities. (RELATED: Buttigieg Rips Trump On China’s Human Rights Abuses, But Offers No Solutions)
Breaking Axios: Joe Biden is considering a high-profile ambassadorship for Pete Buttigieg, possibly sending him to China, people familiar with the matter tell Axios. https://t.co/yuJ0nPKRVA
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 9, 2020
Buttigieg endorsed Biden soon after dropping out of the Democratic primary this spring, and he spent the subsequent months on the campaign trail hosting events and fundraisers for the president-elect.
Biden has taken great strides in filling out his cabinet in recent weeks, first announcing his foreign policy team in late November. The incoming president has also announced nominations for health and economic policy, according to reports.
Biden also promised in March to put former opponent Beto O’Rourke in charge of his administration’s gun control policies, but he has made no formal announcement since the election.
Buttigieg would replace Trump’s current transportation secretary, Elaine Chao.