The department’s use of civil rights laws has buoyed activists on the ground and surprised even seasoned regulators in Washington.A portion of Interstate 45 is seen in downtown Houston. | Paul Sancya/AP PhotoPresident Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation is invoking the Civil Rights Act to pause a highway project near Houston, a rare move that offers an early test of the administration’s willingness to wield federal power to address a long history of government-driven racial inequities.DOT’s intervention follows complaints from local activists that the state’s proposed widening of...…The department’s use of civil rights laws has buoyed activists on the ground and surprised even seasoned regulators in Washington.A portion of Interstate 45 is seen in downtown Houston. | Paul Sancya/AP PhotoPresident Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation is invoking the Civil Rights Act to pause a highway project near Houston, a rare move that offers an early test of the administration’s willingness to wield federal power to address a long history of government-driven racial inequities.DOT’s intervention follows complaints from local activists that the state’s proposed widening of...WW…

Pete Buttigieg takes the reins at DOT and brings his Twitter army with him.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg smiles during a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing. | Stefani Reynolds/Pool via APPete Buttigieg will be the next Transportation secretary, bringing his political celebrity and legion of super fans to a mammoth agency that’s not used to headlines — unless they’re jokes about “Infrastructure Week.”After four years of leadership under former President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, a Washington, D.C., insider who was notoriously unavailable to...…Pete Buttigieg takes the reins at DOT and brings his Twitter army with him.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg smiles during a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing. | Stefani Reynolds/Pool via APPete Buttigieg will be the next Transportation secretary, bringing his political celebrity and legion of super fans to a mammoth agency that’s not used to headlines — unless they’re jokes about “Infrastructure Week.”After four years of leadership under former President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, a Washington, D.C., insider who was notoriously unavailable to...WW…