President-elect Joe Biden finally announced a gay cabinet secretary pick Tuesday. Pete Buttigieg is set to become the first LGBTQ cabinet secretary after being nominated as the 19th U.S. secretary of transportation by Biden December 15. Biden’s formal announcement followed earlier reports on CNN and Politico earlier in the day that said Buttigieg would be tapped for the transportation post. “Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a patriot and a problem-solver who speaks to the best of who we are as a nation,” Biden stated. “I am nominating him for secretary of transportation because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us. Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT, the site of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better. I trust Mayor Pete to lead this work with focus, decency, and a bold vision — he will bring people together to get big things done.” Buttigieg, 38, burst onto the national scene last year with his landmark bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. He withdrew from the race March 1, throwing his support behind Biden, but not before becoming the first LGBTQ person to win a presidential nominating contest when he defeated Biden and others in the Iowa Caucus earlier this year.