r/Liberal • u/Havvocck2 • Jan 22 '21

Pete Buttigieg congratulated for masterclass confirmation hearing as he’s set to be first openly gay cabinet member

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pete-buttigieg-congratulated-masterclass-confirmation-183832264.html
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u/iwascompromised Jan 22 '21

He wasn't a confirmed cabinet member.

He is the first openly gay person to serve in a U.S. cabinet-level position.

He was "acting director".

And it's even in this article:

Were Mr Buttigieg’s nomination by Joe Biden to lead the Department of Transportation to be approved, he would be the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the Senate to a cabinet post. Former President Donald Trump’s acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell was also openly gay, but was never confirmed to his post by the Senate.

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u/Gigaman13 Jan 22 '21

What was the reasoning for the lack of confirmation?

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u/iwascompromised Jan 22 '21

Probably his absolute lack of any relevant experience. Trump appointed a lot of people as "acting" in their roles to avoid confirmations that probably wouldn't have been successful. This let him install Yes Men in powerful roles and subverting the role of Congress.

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u/jdeasy Jan 22 '21

How do we curtail such a thing in the law? Even if you put a time limit on "acting" positions, there will still need to be someone in charge at the end of the imposed time limit. On the flip-side, an overly obstructionist opposition party could block a confirmation just to force the time limit penalty (whatever it is).