Notre Dame faculty fellow and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate as the U.S. transportation secretary. By a vote of 86 to 13, Buttigieg is the first openly gay person to be approved by the Senate for a Cabinet position.

The Transportation Department employs over 58,000 people, oversees all federal transportation programs and has a multi-billion dollar budget. As transportation secretary, Buttigieg is expected to play a significant role in President Joe Biden’s green initiatives, including the $2 trillion climate change plan Biden announced last year.

Tom Naatz

“I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate — and ready to get to work,“ Buttigieg said in a tweet.

He served as mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020 and ran for president starting in 2019 before dropping out and endorsing Biden.

Buttigieg became a faculty fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS) in the fall 2020 semester, teaching an undergraduate course and working on two research projects.

Tags: Mayor Pete, Pete Buttigieg, President Biden, South Bend, Transportation Secretary