Buttigieg finds himself in the spotlight for better or worse

By ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been in the national spotlight a lot lately, and not always for positive reasons. The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and onetime mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been the public face of a string of transportation-related mishaps, including this past week’s temporary ground of air traffic in the United States. All that increased scrutiny has come amid rising speculation about his political prospects. During his tenure as transportation chief, there have been widespread global supply chain issues and logjams at major ports as well as multiple instances of mass flight cancellations by airlines. Also, a nationwide strike by railroad workers was only averted by an eleventh-hour intervention from Congress.