New Cabinet: Biden names shooting star Pete Buttigieg minister

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The future president of the United States, Joe Biden, wants to bring into his cabinet promising newcomer Pete Buttigieg, a former Democratic contender for the presidential race. Biden plans to appoint Buttigieg, 38, Minister of Transportation, as his team announced Tuesday night. According to this, Buttigieg, if confirmed for the position, would be the openly gay federal prime minister in the country’s history.

Buttigieg caused a sensation in the Democratic presidential primary. Months earlier he had been a great unknown on the national level, but then Buttigieg made his way to the top of the party’s internal candidates in the polls and gained enormously in profile and awareness over the course of his election campaign. After retiring from the race, he supported Biden’s candidacy.

For eight years, until the end of 2019, Buttigieg was mayor of South Bend, a city of 100,000 inhabitants in the US state of Indiana. He studied at renowned universities and worked as a management consultant at McKinsey before turning to politics. Buttigieg was also in the Navy. In 2014 he left his job as mayor for a seven-month assignment in Afghanistan. In addition to English, Buttigieg speaks seven other languages: French, Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Norwegian, Dari and Arabic, although not all speak it.

No experience at the federal level

The fact that you are now transferring directly to a ministerial office after the South Bend position is a steep climb. However, it is not surprising that Buttigieg takes a prominent position. Recently, there has been more speculation about what position he might be assigned.

So far, the Democrat has no political experience at the federal level. This could be charged in the Senate, which must confirm it for the position. Buttigieg had already found reservations about his age and his limited political experience in the presidential race; answered them easily.

Together with the Ministry of Transport, it is now scheduled for a department that is not one of the most prestigious. In light of the large investments expected in infrastructure, the ministry is likely to be of some importance during Biden’s tenure, so there is plenty of room for Buttigieg to distinguish itself further.

Granholm as Minister of Energy

Biden said the department has some of his administration’s most ambitious projects planned. He was confident that Buttigieg would approach this work with decency and a bold vision. Buttigieg wrote in a tweet that he was honored.

CNN also reported, citing unidentified sources, that Biden had appointed former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to the Department of Energy. He wants to name former EPA environmental agency director Gina McCarthy as lead climate coordinator. Initially there was no confirmation for this.

Biden had promised to form the most diverse cabinet of all time. Among other things, he announced that he would put a woman in charge of the Treasury for the first time and that for the first time he would become an African-American head of the Pentagon.

Obstacle in Georgia

Biden and his party face a major hurdle in the state of Georgia, where there will be momentous second-round elections for two US Senate seats on January 5. During a campaign appearance in Atlanta on Tuesday, Biden insisted on supporting the two Democratic candidates in the election. Voters would have to vote as if their lives depended on it, “because it does,” he warned.

The two second-round elections play an important role for Biden’s presidency. Because the Senate confirms candidates for government offices and can block legislative proposals. The Georgia elections will determine whether Biden’s Democrats win control of the Senate or Republicans keep a majority in the House of Representatives. To get a majority, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would have to prevail over Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Georgia has long been considered a Republican stronghold. In the November presidential election, however, Republican President Donald Trump was defeated there, Biden narrowly won the state.

SDA / chk

Posted today at 02:47 am