AP sources: Biden to pick Buttigieg as transportation chief

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the Transportation Department, according to three people familiar with the plans.

Buttigieg, one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, was a breakout star of the primaries, sharing victory in the nation’s first caucus with Bernie Sanders. He suspended his campaign before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden.

Biden has compared the 38-year-old Buttigieg to his late son, Beau.

“To me it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman. And, like Beau, he has a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden said during the March event, as Buttigieg stood behind him, bowing his head. “I promise you, over your lifetime, you’re going to end up seeing a hell of a lot more of Pete than you are of me.”

The three people confirmed the news to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they didn't want to publicly preempt the president-elect's announcement.

Buttigieg is the former mayor of Indiana’s fourth largest city, serving from 2012 to 2020. He also served a seven-month deployment as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan. With his presidential campaign, he became the first openly gay man to become — however briefly — a leading presidential candidate. He has been married to his husband, Chasten, since 2018.

LGBTQ rights groups immediately spoke out in praise of Biden's selection of Buttigieg.

“Pete’s nomination is a new milestone in a decades-long effort to ensure LGBTQ people are represented throughout our government – and its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead," said Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute. "It distances our nation from a troubled...