- Thursday, December 17, 2020

President-elect Joseph Biden’s selection of former South Bend, Indiana mayor and 2020 Democratic Party primary rival candidate, Pete Buttigieg, as the next transportation secretary is disappointing. The U.S. Department of Transportation has 55,000 employees and a budget of $71.4 billion. It is composed of the federal highway, transit, motor carriers, maritime and highway traffic safety administrations, along with the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and its own Office of Inspector General. While mayor, Buttigieg ran a city of 100,000 with 1,143 employees and an annual budget of $358 million.

There are hundreds of better-qualified city and state DOT commissioners, transit agency presidents and others with significant experience in many of these units within USDOT. Many have spent years managing thousands of employees and budgets in the billions. They would have stood head and shoulders above Buttigieg in their ability to hit the ground running an agency as complex as USDOT.

It appears that Joe Biden is a disciple of the same old inside-the-Beltway practices as other politicians. He who has the gold rules. In his world, you reward those who have been politically loyal to you, such as Mr. Buttigieg, who dropped out of the Democratic primary to assist Mr. Biden in becoming the front-runner. Quid pro quo is alive and well in the incoming White House. It is business as usual at the expense of taxpayers.

LARRY PENNER

Great Neck, N.Y.

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