WASHINGTON (AP) – Pete Buttigieg was a few weeks into his job as secretary of transportation, buried in meetings and preparing for the launch of President Joe Biden’s $ 2.3 trillion public works plan when he arrived in the evening along with a time to try something new in Washington.
Instead of getting into the back seat of a black SUV like most cabinet secretaries, he headed for a bike rack. With his helmet on and a pair of Secret Service agents flanking him, he pedaled the half-mile journey to his home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
It was not a one-time trick. On Thursday, Buttigieg arrived at the White House for a Cabinet meeting with his two wheels. And that wasn’t his only “normal” moment. Devotees from the Columbia District Canine Parks have also seen him there, chatting with anyone, from children to members of Congress, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y.
Buttigieg first looked at the work of the man who is now his boss, Biden. Buttigieg presidential campaign he had surprising success: he tied essentially with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the Iowa committees and finished second in the New Hampshire primaries, and made a strong impression as a representative of the future of the Democratic Party.
Now the man known during his campaign as “Mayor Pete” – he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana – is facing the first test of this potential in his first job in Washington: running a cabinet department with an annual budget of $ 75 billion and a mandate to help drive an infrastructure program that Biden has compared to building the interstate highway system in the 1950s.
He will have to navigate the complicated politics of a bureaucracy rooted in the Department of Transportation and the full politics of a bitterly divided Washington.
He may have found a way to just ride a bike, which has won fans over even Congress skeptics.
“You have to keep your head up,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press, explaining the road and the potential dangers posed by unaccustomed drivers, but said it can be a much faster journey from point A to B.
Biden on Thursday commissioned Buttigieg and four other cabinet members – the “Employment Cabinet” – to sell the administration’s infrastructure and climate plan, a flood of money for roads, bridges, airports, side communications wide, water systems and electric cars.
But the plan has already hit the wall with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Who opposes corporate tax increases that Biden says will pay for the plan and vows to oppose it. it is “every step of the way”. On the other hand, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., The president of the Progressive Caucus Congress, says the package should be significantly larger.
While it may seem daunting, the challenge of helping to build consensus fits the ambition of the man who had the audacity to run for president from the perch of being mayor of a city. medium-sized in Indiana. When Biden chose the naval reserve veteran who spoke smoothly for the transport site, he praised him for offering “a new voice with new ideas determined to overcome the old policy.”
In an interview, Buttigieg said he believes a bipartisan consensus can be reached.
Buttigieg joins the sale of the plan: Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
“I’ve had enough conversations, especially individual conversations against the cameras, with members on both sides of the aisle, to know that there’s really a sincere interest in doing so,” Buttigieg told the AP. “Now, politics can get in the way, of course. But I think that unlike other issues where there’s just a deep, passionate disagreement about what to do, there’s a really healthy overlap here when it comes to our ideas about what needs to happen, even if there’s a lot of difference in how to get there. “
Translation? Republicans also like smooth roads and fast internet for their components. But so far there is no indication that Republicans share his position.
The proposal offers big bets for Buttigieg in the department, where he is committed to promoting public transport and other green alternatives to gas cars and applying an “equity lens” to infrastructure projects.
“Black and brown neighborhoods have been disproportionately divided by highway projects or left isolated by the lack of adequate transportation and transportation resources,” Buttigieg reported in December. Under Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, he said, “We will make the rectification of these mistakes an imperative.”
Just two months into the work, Buttigieg has met with two dozen members of the House and 13 senators and in recent days has increased that pace, speaking daily with lawmakers on both sides.
Republicans describe the former McKinsey consultant as friendly and open-minded, though they sometimes wonder about his actual level of influence in the legislation.
Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican in a key panel overseeing the roads, said he has spoken to Buttigieg twice, once in a meeting with Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the White House. He said the conversations were “really good.”
“I’m very excited to be able to work with him,” said Davis, a cyclist back home in his rural district, who believes the former mayor can provide valuable street-level perspective to fill potholes and ease congested streets.
“If you want to go for a walk to discuss bike lanes and public transportation, I’ll be grateful,” he said.
Although he is the youngest cabinet member at 39, Buttigieg possesses a star power matched by few others in the group. He has demonstrated his ability to get media attention and use those moments, including during a series of memorable Fox News hits during the election, to influence the public, including those who are not always eligible to vote Democratic. .
He has spoken at the popular SXSW conference in Texas, joined Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., To promote the expanded passenger railroad, and tweets to a wider audience that is about to rival Donald Trump when he was president. . Buttigieg promotes traffic policy on both her official and personal account, where she also shows devotion to her husband, Chasten.
Buttigieg, owner of two dogs, has even been seen in a neighborhood park with Ocasio-Cortez. A casual meeting, he said.
The new transportation secretary had a setback recently: he had to quickly go through a plan to charge drivers for the mile they were driving. It’s a proposal that has some support among Republicans, but that could violate Biden’s campaign commitment not to raise taxes on people earning less than $ 400,000.
Buttigieg has impressed West Wing’s aides with his work ethic and willingness to learn, and he was quickly granted approval to continue a solid commitment to the media.
Presidential advisers also hold warm feelings toward the former mayor over his decision last spring to quickly approve Biden after abandoning his own campaign, helping to hasten the end of the Democratic primary contest. And Biden has compared Buttigieg to his late son Beau, a powerful evocation that helped consolidate his importance to the president.
Now tied to Biden’s agenda and performance, Buttigieg is beginning a phase that can improve his utility portfolio and life experience.
This phase achieves what some allies have said Buttigieg needed, a later chapter, beyond the wonderful story of the wonderful boy from the small town of the Midwest. Friends and advisers had long suggested he leave South Bend and see more of the world than allowed for his seven-month deployment to Afghanistan in 2014.
Buttigieg was also busy taking steps to run for president when he married in June 2018 and when his father died six months later. During the campaign, he said he and Chasten had hopes of becoming parents.
Asked about his desire to be a father, Buttigieg told the AP “we’re still working on it,” before adding with a smile, “Stay tuned.”
As quickly as he rose, Buttigieg quickly suspended his campaign in March 2020, before Biden’s rise to the primaries was clear. I knew when to leave. He’ll probably also know when he’ll come back in, if he does.
“He has incredible political talent and skill,” said Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, a longtime friend and advocate of the 2020 campaign. “But part of that talent and skill is having a political timeline. really great “.
In this sense, he sees his work in infrastructure not as “part of this grand plan in his next move,” but rather as a demonstration of his ability to focus on the task at hand.
Buttigieg and her husband have been seen strolling through their new neighborhood, Capitol Hill, where they live in a one-bedroom apartment, meandering the craft stalls in the eastern market to the smiles of residents. Last weekend they strolled through the brick houses and blooming magnolia cherry trees, greeting neighbors with waves and allowing young children to pet their dogs. Her one-eyed puggle called “Buddy,” adopted in late 2018, has become an Instagram star.
Buddy stood while a blond-haired girl ran and sat down to greet him while the other lab mix, Truman, was nearby.
“She loves the attention,” Chasten Buttigieg explained to the girl, a trait Buddy picked up during the campaign.
Pete Buttigieg smiled as the girl said goodbye to the dog on the head and the couple was slowly making their way back to the Capitol.
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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Calvin Woodward contributed to this report.