10 things you need to know today: December 16, 2020

Biden plans to nominate Buttigieg as transportation secretary, McConnell acknowledges Biden's win for the first time, and more

Pete Buttigieg in Indiana
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

1. Biden to nominate Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary

President-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary. Buttigieg ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, but ended his campaign and endorsed Biden shortly before Super Tuesday. Axios previously reported that Buttigieg's top choice for a job in Biden's administration was ambassador to the United Nations, but Biden selected Linda Thomas-Greenfield for that role. Should Buttigieg be confirmed by the Senate, he would become the first openly gay Cabinet member. Biden also is expected to nominate former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a strong advocate of zero-emissions vehicles, as secretary of energy.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.