Where Might Pete Buttigieg Fit into Biden's Cabinet?
Openly gay former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has joined a number of other onetime Democratic contenders as the subject of speculation when it comes to whether he will be on President-elect Biden's cabinet.
Yahoo! News likes the multi-lingual Mayor Pete for an ambassadorial post, maybe that of ambassador to the U.N. According to Yahoo! News, Buttigieg himself has said he would like that post.
But Politico envisioned the former Naval intelligence officer as a possible pick for Secretary of Veterans Affairs. However, Politico cautioned, that post is "a low-reward, high-risk job with bureaucratic scandals ensnaring several of the post's most recent occupants. That makes it a tricky proposition for young, ambitious politicians" such as Buttigieg, who impressed progressives enough that there's been talk of a future followup run at the White House in the rising political star's future.
Given Buttigieg's deft work as a proxy for Biden during the campaign - including a number of well-received appearances on Fox News - the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana seems a sure bet for a cabinet position. Even this past weekend, in the immediate wake of Biden and Harris' victory, Buttigiefg appeared on Fox News Sunday to assert that the Senate - expected to remain in GOP hands - would do well to cooperate with, rather than obstruct, a Biden presidency.
"Mitch McConnell's going to have a decision to make," Buttigieg said. "Is his purpose in Washington to defy the American people who, along with the president and the House of Representatives, will believe in expanding and not taking away health care"?
Buttigieg added that McConnell will need to decide what his priorities are, and "whether he wants to help move this country forward and influence progress or whether he wants to stop progress."
Sources close to the Biden team seemed to confirm that Biden and his team have their eye on Buttigieg for a cabinet post, Axios reports, with the news site saying that "the question surrounding Buttigieg is not if, but where, he lands" in the incoming president's cabinet.