On Tuesday, it emerged that President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg—the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Biden’s former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination—to serve as transportation secretary in his administration.

As one of the fastest-rising young stars in the Democratic Party, the 38-year-old was widely tipped for a role in the Biden administration. He parlayed two terms as mayor of a midsize city in a Midwestern red state into national political aspirations—narrowly winning this year’s Iowa caucus and placing second in the New Hampshire primary, before dropping out of the presidential race ahead of Super Tuesday and endorsing Biden.

As a surrogate for Biden’s campaign, Buttigieg garnered praise for his willingness to appear on Fox News and other conservative media outlets to advocate for Biden and the Democrats. That willingness to engage in debate with the other side—coupled with his success as a openly gay, Democratic politician in a traditionally conservative state—only further burnished Buttigieg’s star, with some seeing him as the future of a moderate Democratic Party capable of beating the Republicans in their own backyard. As transportation secretary, Buttigieg would be the first openly LGBTQ cabinet secretary approved by the U.S. Senate.

But Buttigieg also has his fair share of detractors. Even before the 2020 presidential campaign, his three-year stint at management consulting giant McKinsey & Co. and his overly ambitious, careerist political trajectory were already raising eyebrows among the progressive left. But a contentious primary in which he lured big corporate donors and frequently took aim at progressive favorite Bernie Sanders firmly established Buttigieg as the bête noire of the left’s vocal online commentariat—many of whom reject him as a continuation of the Democratic Party’s corporatized, neoliberal establishment.

Those voices were out in full force Tuesday to meet the news of Buttigieg’s pending nomination with skepticism and, in some cases, outright disdain—questioning his qualifications for the role and jesting about what his tenure as transportation secretary would entail.

Briefly being mayor of a town smaller than Fargo, North Dakota does not qualify you to be Secretary of Transportation.

— Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) December 15, 2020

does Indiana even have mass transit lol

https://t.co/yzYhLDfdxL

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 15, 2020

Buttigieg is going to solve America's transit problems by hiring McKinsey to figure out ways to use public money to pay Uber

— kill 💀 tim 💀 faust (@crulge) December 15, 2020

has pete buttigieg ridden a bus before

— Current Affairs (@curaffairs) December 15, 2020

Politico transportation reporter Sam Mintz pointed out the unprecedented scale of Buttigieg’s new task, and how he beat out some experienced candidates in getting the DOT nod.

The mayor of a city of 100,000, with 60 buses, will be appointed to lead an agency with nearly 55,000 employees, an $87 billion budget and more than a dozen administrations, overseeing the nation’s airspace, highway system, pipeline safety and much more.

https://t.co/hB6bNGLDoK

— Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) December 15, 2020

Here's some of who Buttigieg beat out for DOT:

-David Kim (8 years at DOT, LA Transit, head of Calif's state transportation agency)

-Sarah Feinberg (4 years at DOT, led FRA, head of NYC Transit)

-John Porcari (led Maryland DOT, USDOT deputy secretary)

— Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) December 15, 2020

But Mintz and other observers also noted that Buttigieg does indeed have transportation credentials of his own, including initiatives that he pursued as South Bend mayor.

This anecdote from @AVGregR is one of many who told @TSnyderDC and I that yes, Pete Buttigieg does in fact have some wonky transportation credentials, even if his resume looks thin on paper.

— Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) December 15, 2020

For Urbanist Twitter talking about @PeteButtigieg and DOT. Policies established with him as Mayor:

Legalized ADUs citywide

Eliminated parking minimums in 1/2 directs, reduced everywhere else

Established @SmartStreetsSB focusing on reducing pavement, increase walkablity, cycling

— Joseph Molnar (@JosephRMolnar) December 14, 2020

Fun fact: when Buttigieg was mayor, South Bend won $1 million from the Bloomberg Mayor's Challenge to give people Uber cards to pay for transportation to and from work. Looking forward to more of this creative thinking from Secretary Buttigieg!

 https://t.co/4McuJAnM6f

— Zach Griffen (@runzach) December 15, 2020

An anecdote from my 2018 @IndyMonthly profile:

 https://t.co/5rRCsa9Ji8 pic.twitter.com/MWIZHErOdb

— Adam Wren (@adamwren) December 15, 2020

Though Buttigieg will work to push forward President-elect Biden's transportation initiatives, the former mayor had plans of his own for DOT that were detailed in his larger infrastructure plan.

https://t.co/ZtbJkMRBTY pic.twitter.com/z8zKXsca0u

— Justin Gomez (@JustinGomezABC) December 15, 2020

Buttigieg is an aviation geek who collected flight maps as a youth

https://t.co/dBNpzd9SpA

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) December 15, 2020

Still, Buttigieg’s nomination will rankle those on the left who were hoping that Biden’s cabinet would strike a more progressive tone. Thus far, it appears the President-elect’s transition has paid little mind to cabinet recommendations outlined by progressive groups.

Joe Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation. Buttigieg was not on Data for Progress's list of cabinet proposals.

So far DfP is 0:17 in cabinet recommendations, with Biden rejecting 75 of their proposals.

https://t.co/lxIryp2Duy

— Carl Beijer (@CarlBeijer) December 15, 2020