Buttigieg’s popularity soars as local leaders jockey for $211 billion in infrastructure cash

State and local leaders across the country are scrambling for a slice of the infrastructure pie, which includes roughly $211 billion to be awarded as competitive federal grants by Pete Buttigieg's Department of Transportation.

Buttigieg, a former mayor himself, has essentially become "the most powerful transportation secretary ever," as Business Insider put it, controlling the wallet of an unprecedented amount of money at the department.