Pete Buttigieg in Biden Cabinet members actions and issues
On Homeland Security:
Immigrants who enlisted deserve sure path to citizenship
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a Veterans Day address in 2019, said priority should be given to overhauling and renewing MAVNI. Buttigieg, a Navy Reserve veteran of Afghanistan, said MAVNI [Military Accessions Vital to National Interest]
recruits deserve a sure path to citizenship "because if you are willing to risk your life for this country, then it is your country, and we ought to honor that and acknowledge that."
Source: Military.com on Biden Cabinet
Mar 13, 2021
On Government Reform:
As mayor: ask how USDOT worked rather than make demands
Beth Osborne, a top USDOT official during the Obama administration, remembered Buttigieg "set the agency on fire" when he visited the office as mayor. What set Buttigieg apart, she said, is that he spent his time
asking agency employees questions about how the department worked, rather than making demands about what he wanted them to do for him.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Biden Cabinet
Dec 26, 2020
On Tax Reform:
Move from fuel taxes to mileage fees to fund roads
The federal government paid for its share of the road network using proceeds from a federal gas tax. That money was put in a special "trust fund." Congress hasn't raised the per-gallon rates since 1993. Meanwhile, vehicles are becoming more fuel
efficient, meaning people have to buy less gas per mile that their cars travel. The trust fund went broke. When Buttigieg ran for president, he said USDOT should come up with a way to move from fuel taxes to mileage fees.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Biden Cabinet
Dec 26, 2020
On Civil Rights:
Fight racial, economic injustice with transportation policy
Pete Buttigieg promised to fight racial, economic, and environmental injustice as nominee to lead the Department of Transportation (DOT). During his speech, he warned there was a dark side to the DOT. "At its worst, misguided policies and missed
opportunities can reinforce racial, economic, and environmental injustice, dividing or isolating neighborhoods," he said, promising to work to deliver "equity" and "empower everyone to thrive."
Source: Breitbart blog on Biden Cabinet, "Racial Injustice"
Dec 16, 2020
On Civil Rights:
OpEd: Appointed to Cabinet solely because he's gay
[Opinion]: Buttigieg's homosexuality might be Biden's sole reason for picking him. "His expected nomination is a historic moment for LGBTQ Americans. Advocacy groups had been pressuring the Biden transition to make history and nominate an
LGBTQ American to a top Cabinet post," CNN reported. Apparently selecting LGBTQ individuals to run his administration will one of Biden's top priorities. His website's promises and policy proposals for the "LGBTQ community" runs past 8,000 words.
Source: The New American OpEd on Biden Cabinet
Dec 16, 2020
On Technology:
Chaired Automation Task Force of Conference of Mayors
During his time as a mayor, he served as Chair of the Conference's Automation Task Force, exploring how new technologies could help solve some of the most difficult municipal problems and deliver better services.
His expertise, deep-seated curiosity and understanding of the impact federal policy has on our communities proved to be invaluable to our work, just as it will in his new role.
Source: Press Release from US Conference of Mayors on Biden Cabinet
Dec 15, 2020
On Social Security:
Would establish $90/day benefit for long-term care
Buttigieg launched his first swing in Iowa by unveiling his plan for long-term care and retirement. Buttigieg's plan would establish a $90 per day benefit for long-term care for as long as recipients need it, after an income-related waiting period.
It would a be a cash benefit that could be used help pay for assisted-living facilities or home-health aides. He estimated it would cut out-of-pocket care for that type of service by 39% in Iowa.
The plan also includes reforms to Social Security, including increasing benefits to 125% of the federal poverty limit to people who worked or were a caregiver for 30 years. He proposes paying for it by raising the income cap on the taxes that
pay for social security benefits. Currently, social security taxes only apply to income up to $133,000. He would apply social security taxes to individual incomes above $250,000 to maintain the program's solvency.
Source: Des Moines Register on Biden Cabinet
Nov 25, 2019
On Abortion:
Offered anti-abortion clinic help away from abortion clinic
An abortion clinic--[in] a city without a single provider--was trying to open. A crisis pregnancy center was trying to open up directly next door. Buttigieg eventually barred the CPC from its desired location. But he did so without ever taking a
stand on reproductive rights. He even offered to "help" the anti-abortion organization open elsewhere, despite evidence that the vast majority of crisis pregnancy centers provide false or misleading information to the women they claim to serve.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on DOT Biden Cabinet
Jun 13, 2019
On Technology:
Transportation part of solution to greenhouse gas emissions
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that the U.S. has a "once in a century opportunity" to push forward infrastructure reforms and added that the country is on the verge of an "infrastructure season" that could potentially turn
into an "infrastructure decade." Buttigieg spoke Thursday at the virtual South by Southwest festival.[On the planned infrastructure bill]: "Transportation can be a part of the solution,"
Buttigieg said. "In fact, it has to be because transportation is the biggest part of the problem. We're the biggest sector when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, which means improving transportation is the biggest thing we can do to
get our economy on the right track." According to the EPA, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation account for nearly 30% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: CBS News on Biden Cabinet
Mar 18, 2013
Page last updated: May 20, 2021