As the Biden Administration begins to work the room to put its ambitious $3 trillion infrastructure bill in play, the White House is banking on the youngest cabinet member playing a key role.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was the focus of an in-depth profile by Politico that looks at the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana’s transition to being potential point man for legislation that could be a defining point for Biden’s presidency.
This particular part of the story highlights Buttigieg’s learning curve and work ethic as he tackles trying to convince lawmakers across the aisle about the benefits of the “Build Back Better” plan.
“Buttigieg may be the youngest of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet secretaries and the one with the most on-the-job learning to do. But he also comes with the most prominent reputation — a small-town mayor with big ideas and even bigger ambitions; the type of person who plunges so deep into new subjects that he might spend a casual evening sifting through a digital library on transportation and actually enjoy it.”
Buttigieg is focusing on meeting with Republicans to push the positives of the plan. He’s focused on the first part, which is centered around physical infrastructure needs such as bridge and road repairs across the nation’s transportation network. That’s expected to cost about $1 trillion.
Perhaps more importantly, the media-savvy Buttigieg, whose TV appearances often catch fire on social media, could be essential to getting American voters to see the benefits of Biden’s bill. This comment from an unnamed official indicates the White House sees Buttigieg’s value in perhaps finally making Infrastructure Week happen.
“The secretary’s done an admirable job in that work and in communicating it to the American people.”