Pete Buttigieg becomes 1st openly gay person confirmed to Cabinet seat


Pete Buttigieg was confirmed Tuesday to lead President Biden's Transportation Department.
In an 86-13 vote, the Senate confirmed the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 candidate to lead the DOT. The overwhelming vote marks the first time an openly gay person has been confirmed by the Senate to any Cabinet-level department. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell was previously the first openly gay person to serve at a Cabinet-level, serving for four months last year without Senate confirmation.
In his confirmation hearings, Buttigieg signaled support for enforcing mask mandates on public forms of transportation. He also affirmed climate change would be a "central feature" in any Biden administration infrastructure packages, and noted that "misguided policies and missed opportunities in transportation can reinforce racial and economic inequality."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Buttigieg's confirmation received congratulations from both sides of the aisle, including from former Democratic primary rival Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
Several other Biden Cabinet nominees have been confirmed in the past two weeks, includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Senate will also vote on the confirmation of Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday. He is expected to be confirmed.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Nashville dining: Far more than barbecue and hot chicken
Feature A modern approach to fine-dining, a daily-changing menu, and more
-
Music Reviews: Coco Jones and Viagra Boys
Feature "Why Not More?" and "Viagr Aboys"
-
Visa wants to let AI make credit card purchases for you
The Explainer The program will allow you to set a budget and let AI learn from your shopping preferences
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies