The Cabinet of the United States is the principal official advisory body to the president of the United States. The Cabinet generally meets with the president in a room adjacent to the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House. The president chairs the meetings but is not formally a member of the Cabinet. The vice president of the United States serves in the Cabinet by statute. The heads of departments, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are members of the Cabinet, and acting department heads also participate in Cabinet meetings whether or not they have been officially nominated for Senate confirmation. The president may designate heads of other agencies and non-Senate-confirmed members of the Executive Office of the President as members of the Cabinet.
The United States Department of Transportation is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
Norman Yoshio Mineta was an American politician from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta served in the Cabinet of the United States for U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican.
The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order, or relative preeminence, for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy, and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, second ladies, and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
The United States federal executive departments are the principal units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. They are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary or semi-presidential systems but they are led by a head of government who is also the head of state. The executive departments are the administrative arms of the president of the United States. There are currently 15 executive departments.
Jane F. Garvey is a former government transportation and public works official, now an American business executive, currently serving as the chairman of Meridiam North America. She was the first female Administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration from 1997 to 2002. In May 2018, she was tapped to become the first female Chairman of United Continental Holdings.
Daniel Mark Tangherlini is an American government official who currently serves as a Governor of the United States Postal Service. He served as administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration from 2012 to 2015. Unanimously approved to the post by the U.S. Senate on June 27, 2013, he had served as Acting Administrator since his appointment by President Barack Obama on April 2, 2012. He earlier served as an executive in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as City Administrator of Washington, D.C., and as interim General Manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Mary E. Peters is an American government official who served as the 15th United States secretary of transportation from 2006 to 2009, under President George W. Bush. She was the second woman to hold that position after Elizabeth Dole.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound transportation of energy and other hazardous materials. It is in charge of overseeing about 3.4 million miles of pipelines - accounting for 65% of the energy consumed in the U.S. - and regulating the nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. This includes pipelines carrying carbon dioxide Carbon capture and utilization). PHMSA's safety programs are housed in the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS). PHMSA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Barack Obama assumed office as president of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Debra L. "Deb" Miller was the vice chair of the Surface Transportation Board. She previously served as the Kansas Secretary of Transportation under three successive Governors of Kansas between 2003 and 2011. She is Kansas' first female and longest-serving secretary of transportation.
Peter H. Appel was the administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). From 2009 to 2011 Appel was the Obama administration point person on transportation technology issues and research. He left RITA in late 2011 for the private sector to work on emerging technologies in the transportation industry.
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg is an American politician and former naval officer who is serving as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, which earned him the nickname "Mayor Pete".
Michael Peter Huerta is an American government official who served as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from 2013 to 2018. He was also Acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump for 11 days in 2017 until the Senate confirmed the appointment of Elaine Chao to the position.
Polly Ellen Trottenberg is an American government official who is serving as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under Pete Buttigieg since April 14, 2021. She served as the acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from June 2023 to October 2023. She previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation from 2014 to 2020.
Peter Vance Neffenger is a United States Coast Guard Admiral and public servant who served as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration from July 2015 to January 20, 2017.
Carlos Alberto Monje Jr. is an American government official and senior advisor to Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He served as the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy within the Biden administration from July 2021 to April 2024.
Shailen P. Bhatt is an American transportation official who has served as administrator of the Federal Highway Administration since January 2023.
Michael Gordon Whitaker is an American lawyer, currently serving as the 19th administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) since October 2023. He previously served as chief operating officer of Supernal under the Hyundai Motor Company from 2020 to 2023, as principal of the aviation consultancy Whitaker Air Space from 2016 to 2020, and as deputy administrator of FAA from 2013 to 2016.
