Trump-Biden transition: Attorney Sidney Powell back at White House Sunday

Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s nominee for transportation secretary, presented his case to the American people for why he’s an appropriate fit to lead the transportation department. He also shared personal stories about the post’s significance to him from the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday.

“Travel in my mind is synonymous with growth, with adventure, even love. So much so that I proposed to my husband Chasten in an airport terminal. So, don't let anybody tell you that O'Hare isn't romantic,” Buttigieg joked, going on to thank his husband, Chasten, for supporting his career.

Playing off one of the Biden’s administration's slogans, Buttigieg said  he'll follow through on the new administration's promise to "build back better."

“And step one in building back better, literally, is to build,” he said. “Americans shouldn't settle for less than our peers in the developed world when it comes to our roads and bridges, our railways and transit systems. The U.S. should lead the way.”

He also acknowledged the historic nature of his appointment, saying he’s “mindful that the eyes of history” are on him as it’s the first time an American president has sent an openly LGBTQ Cabinet member to the Senate for confirmation.

“I can remember watching the news. 17-years-old in Indiana, seeing a story about an appointee of President Clinton named to be an ambassador attacked and denied a vote in the Senate because he was gay -- ultimately able to serve only by a recess appointment,” he said.  “And I learned something about some of the limits that exist in this country when it comes to who is allowed to belong. But just as important, I saw how those limits could be challenged."

“Two decades later, I can't help but think of a 17-year-old somewhere who might be watching this right now. Somebody who wonders whether and where they belong in the world, or even in their own family. And I'm thinking about the message that today's announcement is sending to them,” he said, thanking Biden and Harris for their commitment to assembling a diverse Cabinet.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky and Beatrice Peterson

Before introducing his past campaign rival and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg as his nominee to head the Department of Transportation, Biden touted the diversity of his Cabinet so far.

“They include longtime colleagues and new faces and new voices. They include people who share my views and those who have different views. They include people who supported my campaign from its earliest days and people who ran against me. They're experts in policy, leaders tested by crises and by the end of this process, this cabinet will be the most representative of any Cabinet in American history," Biden began.

Biden had warm words for Buttigieg, whom he has said reminds him of his late son, Beau. He called the politician “a new voice with new ideas, determined to move past old politics.”

“We selected Pete for transportation because the department is at the intersection of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better,” Biden said. 

If confirmed, Buttigieg would bring new diversity to the administration Biden has promised will “look like America,” by becoming the first openly gay Cabinet secretary approved by U.S. Senate.

Buttigieg, at age 38, would also be the youngest person nominated to Biden’s Cabinet -- bringing the average age of Biden’s Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees down from 61 to 59.

Buttigieg, seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party following his quick ascent during the 2020 primary, is also the first formal rival Biden has picked to join his administration since he announced now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as his running mate in August.

-ABC News Molly Nagle

Chris Krebs, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency -- fired by Trump after stating there was no evidence of widespread election fraud -- is testifying Wednesday before a GOP-controlled Senate committee investigating unfounded claims about the 2020 election.

The hearing, "Examining Irregularities in the 2020 Election," was announced by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Ron Johnson last week and immediately drew blowback from Democrats who argued that a hearing challenging election results would be damaging to democracy. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has since said he is not attending.

Krebs penned an op-ed for CNN published ahead of the hearing in which he said that false allegations and disinformation about the election came from inside the country and "only serve to confuse, scare and ultimately undermine confidence in the election."

“Unfortunately, as we moved on from November 3, we began to see wild and baseless claims of domestic origin, about hackers and malicious algorithms that flipped the vote in states across the country, singling out election equipment vendors for having ties to deceased foreign dictators. None of these claims matched up with the intelligence we had, based on reporting from election officials or how elections actually work in this country,” Krebs wrote.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Luke Barr

Given the history and the stakes, it's a bit surprising that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris hasn't had more of her own moments in the six weeks since she and Biden were elected.

But that could be changing -- in ways that will matter when she is sworn in, and quite possibly before then.

Harris will be a Black vice president in an administration facing criticism for a relative lack of diversity. She will be a key figure in convincing communities of color to trust the COVID-19 vaccine.

Perhaps most relevantly, for the moment, she remains a sitting U.S. senator as lawmakers close in on a pre-Christmas relief bill. That leaves Harris positioned to have a hand in some Biden-style deal-making even before she is sworn in as vice president.

"I applaud Mitch McConnell for talking to Joe Biden today," Harris told ABC's Robin Roberts Tuesday in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "It would have been better if it were earlier, but it happened, and that's what's most important. So let's move forward."

Many Democrats might laugh at the idea that McConnell or any Republican deserves credit for acknowledging a reality that's been apparent for weeks, and simply stating that Biden is president-elect.

But Biden and Harris aren't laughing through a serious moment that requires buy-in from both parties.

-ABC News' Political Director Rick Klein