On Tuesday the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, making history as the first openly gay U.S. Cabinet secretary. The full Senate voted 86-13 to approve President Joe Biden’s former rival during the 2020 Democratic primary.
Buttigieg wrote on Twitter, “I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate — and ready to get to work.” The 39-year-old Buttigieg served as the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and served in Afghanistan as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve before launching his 2020 presidential campaign. Prior to becoming mayor, he was a consultant for the Chicago office of McKinsey and Company where he worked on energy, retail, economic development and logistics for three years. Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship.
Buttigieg, who is married to high school teacher Chasten Buttigieg, came out as gay in a 2015 while serving as mayor, and won re-election later that year.
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