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Hey, good morning, Playbookers. It's Friday. July 23rd. I'm Rugu Manovalin. And this is your

Politico Playbook Daily Briefing. Even if the bipartisan infrastructure framework loses,

Secretary Pete Buttigieg has already won. The Iowa caucus winner turned transportation

secretary has already redefined the backwater cabinet position, one where presidents typically

plant their obligatory senior official from across the aisle. But Buttigieg has assumed celebrity

status in D.C. He's a mainstay of Playbook Spotted. We've seen him riding his bike to work,

hanging with AOC at the dog park, waiting in line for ice cream, sitting next to Joe Biden in the

Oval Office, and beamed straight into our living rooms, giving off the warm and fuzzies

about the pretty non-ideological issue of infrastructure. It's a job that has never led to

the presidency, yet some say Buttigieg has positioned himself well by taking the gig at a moment

when fixing Rosen Bridges is the central issue in D.C. There are other cabinet secretaries on Biden's

infrastructure sales team, such as Jennifer Granholm, Gina Romando,

Marsha Fudge, and Marty Walsh.

But it's Buttigieg who's been on late night TV not once but twice, not to mention

appearing on the view and hopping aboard an Amtrak for today.

Back in April, he sat next to Biden in the armed seat typically designed for the vice president.

The vice president was in North Carolina that day promoting manufacturing.

Biden seems happy to share the infrastructure glory with Buttigieg, whom he's often compared

to his late son, Bootuj, in short, has gotten all the upside and none of the dirty work.

He's building valuable relationships with members of both

parties around the country as he sells the infrastructure package without the arm twisting and

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