Pete Buttigieg

Rule Changes

Criticizing the rollback as a gift to China and a cost to drivers

The Transportation Department published its final fuel-economy rule on September 28, cutting the 2031 fleetwide target to 34.9 miles per gallon from 50.4 mpg under Biden. The rule resets standards to model year 2022 levels and arrived as average U.S. gas prices sat just under $4.50 a gallon.

Updated 4 days ago

Built World

Left office in January 2025 with the change of administration

Japan opened its first bullet train in 1964. Sixty years later, the U.S. still has no line meeting the international high-speed rail threshold. On April 22, 2024, Brightline West broke ground in Las Vegas on a 218-mile route for electric trains running up to 200 mph between the Strip and the Los Angeles suburbs.

Updated May 31

Built World

Oversaw IIJA implementation; left office with mixed results

China just front-loaded $42 billion in infrastructure spending for early 2026—281 projects approved before the calendar even flipped. The U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed with $1.2 trillion in 2021, has spent just 21% of its funds as of December 2024.

Updated May 19