Implementing the New Infrastructure Bill Will Be a Bellwether for Buttigieg Not Biden

The new national infrastructure bill, which is the only real successful piece of legislation to come out of President Joe Biden’s first year in office, will ultimately determine whether or not Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will emerge as the new face of the Democratic party and how much of the country perceives its success or failure.

The Hill: “Right now, Buttigieg is the most prominent outwardly facing member of the administration and he’s handled that position so far with aplomb and has done a great service to the Biden administration,” said former Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), a Biden ally.

Implementing the infrastructure law will give Buttigieg new opportunities to stick out.

“I think Secretary Buttigieg will appear in a lot of swing states, touting the benefits of the infrastructure bill but also probably poke at those Republicans in the swing states that voted against it,” Carney said.

The law, which had GOP support in both chambers but particularly in the Senate, polls favorably with voters, with 50 percent supporting the legislation in November, down from 58 percent in August before it passed.

Joseph Geevarghese, executive director at Our Revolution, a grassroots-funded progressive organization, said that there are many open questions about if projects will start immediately and not in five or 10 years.

“I think there’s an opportunity for him to elevate his profile and to use this as a platform to do so. That being said, the devil is always going to be in the details about the implementation of these policies, and I think how this is implemented remains to be seen,” he said.

“For me, the challenge will be, it is not necessarily clear the bipartisan infrastructure bill by itself is going to deliver good union jobs,” Geevarghese added.

Steve Elmendorf, a lobbyist and early fundraiser for Buttigieg’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, said the best thing Buttigieg can do for his own political future is to help the Biden administration.

After a strong start, Biden’s first year in office sputtered badly, leaving the president with anemic poll numbers and his party deeply worried about its midterm prospects.

Buttigieg has his hands on at least one of the issues that has dragged at Biden: a supply chain crisis aggravated by the pandemic that frustrated businesses and consumers alike.

Toward the end of the year, Buttigieg and the White House were able to point to some progress, with the secretary at the end of November highlighting a record movement of goods through the supply chain.

“I think the best thing that Pete Buttigieg can do for the future is to ensure the success of the Biden-Harris administration. His success leads to more success,” Elmendorf said.

Elmendorf said Buttigieg should keep his focus on his job and not be distracted by the prospects of 2024 or 2028.

“He’s got a lot of time, there’s great opportunity and the last thing that he should want is people to question his motives and say he’s doing something for politics. He should do it because it’s the right thing now,” he said.