WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee for secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, appeared on a smooth path to quick confirmation, pledging to senators on Thursday to help carry out the administration\u2019s ambitious agenda to rebuild the nation\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Speaking at his confirmation hearing with his husband sitting nearby, Buttigieg pointed to a \u201cgenerational opportunity\u201d to create new jobs, fight economic inequality and stem climate change. He pledged more conversations with Congress on programs that will require significant investments in the months to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in this,\u201d the 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told the Senate Commerce Committee. He pointed to opportunities in updating auto emissions regulations that President Donald Trump had loosened and building out a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
Buttigieg did not specify where money could come from for big investments in infrastructure, but wouldn\u2019t rule out a tax increase and floated the possibility of a major change in how highways are funded.<\/p>\n
Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate, was one of the few 2020 contenders to outright endorse converting from the current Highway Trust Fund, which is paid for through the gas tax, to a \u201cvehicle miles traveled\u201d alternative that would tax drivers based on their road mileage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll options are on the table,\u201d Buttigieg said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who chaired the hearing Thursday for a last time as the Senate finalized its transfer of power to Democrats, signaled likely challenges in finding ways to pay for a costly infrastructure overhaul but said he looked forward to working with Buttigieg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite certain he will be confirmed,\u201d Wicker told the hearing.<\/p>\n
Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet post. He was among the first batch of Cabinet selections getting hearings this week as Biden urges the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority, to quickly confirm his nominees.<\/p>\n
Buttigieg would take over at a critical time for transportation, charged with implementing Biden\u2019s proposals to spend billions of dollars making major infrastructure improvements and on retrofitting initiatives that can help the U.S. battle climate change.<\/p>\n
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many modes of transportation, with airlines, city subway systems and Amtrak seeking federal aid to help keep afloat.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood transportation policy can play no less a role than making possible the American Dream, getting people and goods to where they need to be,\u201d Buttigieg said. \u201cBut I also recognize that at their worst, misguided policies and missed opportunities in transportation can reinforce racial and economic inequality, by dividing or isolating neighborhoods and undermining government\u2019s basic role of empowering Americans to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much is at stake today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Biden also wants to immediately mandate mask wearing on airplanes and public transportation systems to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and Buttigieg made clear that would be a first priority at the department.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must ensure all of our transportation systems — from aviation to public transit, to our railways, roads, ports, waterways and pipelines \u2014 are managed safely during this critical period, as we work to defeat the virus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s Biden\u2019s infrastructure plan, the full details of which are expected to be released next month, that is likely to draw heavy attention and pose the biggest challenges. Biden has yet to specify how he intends to pay for new infrastructure spending.<\/p>\n
Beyond standard transportation fixes, which are easier to promise than to get through Congress, Biden wants to rejuvenate the post-coronavirus pandemic economy and create thousands of green jobs by making environmentally friendly retrofits and public works improvements.<\/p>\n
In his prepared remarks to the committee, Buttigieg pointed to his past experience as a veteran of the Afghanistan War as well as city mayor as valuable in taking a ground level approach to improving transportation. He described initiating a \u201csmart streets\u201d program to make South Bend\u2019s downtown more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly while spurring hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with regional and state partners — and across the aisle \u2014 to support enhancements to our inter-city train system and our now-international airport, and we pioneered public-private partnerships,\u201d he said. \u201cWe achieved results by bringing people in, engaging stakeholders and residents, prioritizing limited funds effectively, and unlocking new resources to solve problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how I will approach the Department of Transportation, if confirmed,\u201d Buttigieg said.<\/p>\n
During Trump\u2019s four years in the White House, his administration often held \u201cInfrastructure Week\u201d events and touted transportation improvements. But it was not able to push Congress to pass any broad plan to update the nation\u2019s roads and bridges, rails and airports.<\/p>\n