The Latest: Pelosi backs Rep. Haaland for interior secretary

WASHINGTON — The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland would make an “excellent choice” as interior secretary in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, even though the departure would narrow the already razor-slim House majority.

Pelosi’s statement Wednesday opens the door for Biden to choose Haaland, a front-runner for the post. Backers say her potential history-making nomination as the first Native American to serve in a Cabinet would excite Americans and energize progressive Democrats.

The speaker called the New Mexico congresswoman “one of the most respected and one of the best members of Congress” with whom she has served.

Haaland is one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, part of the 2018 midterm election wave that delivered Democrats majority control. She chairs the Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

Rep. James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House, also supports Haaland for interior.

The Democratic majority in the new Congress could be as tight as 222 to 213, the narrowest partisan gap in the House in two decades. Several races have yet to be called.

___

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S TRANSITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE:

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped former presidential rival Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary, adding a youthful voice to an incoming administration so far dominated by people with decades of Washington experience.

Read more:

— Turning the page? Republicans acknowledge Biden’s victory

— Biden’s challenge: Creating a COVID-19-free White House

— McConnell warns GOP off Electoral College brawl in Congress

— ‘With reservations’: Trump voters grapple with Biden’s win

— Trump asking about special prosecutor for Hunter Biden case

___

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:

1 p.m.

Transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg, who will be the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet, on Wednesday tipped his hat to a Bill Clinton-era ambassadorial nominee whose nomination was blocked by Senate Republicans because of his sexuality.

Clinton eventually used a recess appointment to make Ambassador James Hormel his envoy to Luxembourg in 1997 after Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott refused to allow Hormel a floor vote.

Buttigieg, who was 17 at the time but not yet out, recalled following the news of the fight over Hormel’s nomination and being struck by “some of the limits that exist in this country.”

“So two decades later, I can’t help but think of a 17-year-old somewhere who might be watching us right now,” Buttigieg said. “And I’m thinking about the message that today’s announcement is sending to them.”

___

12:15 p.m.

President-elect Joe Biden says his Cabinet will be more representative of the American people than any other in U.S. history.

Biden championed the diversity of his Cabinet nominees on Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, as he announced that he has chosen Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary. If confirmed, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person to lead a Cabinet department and one of the youngest members ever.

Buttigieg is a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a former presidential candidate.

Biden says there will be more people of color and more women in his Cabinet than any other before, including the first Black defense secretary and the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services.