Senate confirms Buttigieg to head Transportation Dept.

Pete Buttigieg was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday on an 86-13 vote to head the Transportation Department, the first openly gay Cabinet secretary confirmed by lawmakers.

Freddie Joyner has more

Pete Buttigieg was confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Senate in an 86 to 13 vote to head the U.S. Transportation Department.

A former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg will now oversee aviation, highways, vehicles, pipelines and transit, as well as efforts to ensure safe transportation in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He will also be the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary.

Buttigieg first hit the national scene as a Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 election.

He narrowly won the Iowa caucuses, but dropped out of the race following the South Carolina primary.

On Twitter Tuesday, now-Secretary Buttigieg wrote that he was "honored and humbled by today's vote in the Senate—and ready to get to work @USDOT."