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Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg's twins dressed up as 'infrastructure' for Halloween

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's children had Halloween costumes that are spot on with his talking points.

"It is Halloween. Do the twins have a costume or costumes?" CNN anchor Dana Bash asked him on Sunday.

"So yeah, my husband Chasten found these ... it's a little hard to describe, but basically they're like these traffic cones. They're infrastructure. Basically they're going to be going as infrastructure," Buttigieg responded.

Chasten also shared on Instagram that one of the babies had to spend Halloween in the hospital. 

"Gus has been having a rough go of it but we’re headed in the right direction," he said in the post. "We’re so thankful for all of the love and support shown to our family these last few months. And also, for the dedicated and kind medical professionals who have helped take care of our two little pumpkins as they’ve grown stronger, healthier, and cuter."

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Pete and Chasten Buttigieg welcomed twins Penelope Rose and Joseph August in August.

►Tucker Carlson on paternity leaveExperts say Tucker Carlson's 'insulting' comment on fatherhood ignores the truth about American dads

Buttigieg has been critical in efforts to push infrastructure forward – in Congress, that is.

For months, the Biden administration has been a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, aimed at modernizing roads, bridges and transit systems while expanding high-speed internet systems and the nation's network of electric vehicle charging stations.

The legislation – a core Biden administration priority – passed the Senate in August in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 69-30, after months of negotiations.

Infrastructure bill progress: Infrastructure bill passes Senate, sending Biden's plan for roads, bridges and broadband to the House

However, the bill is awaiting a vote in the House, with leaders in the progressive wing pushing back against it without agreement on a larger $1.85 trillion social and climate spending package.

Buttigieg recently took paternity leave

A few weeks ago, Buttigieg made news as a father. He and Fox News' Tucker Carlson had a heated exchange about the Buttigieg twins and the concept of paternity leave.

"Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child. Paternity leave they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed. No word on how that went," Carlson said in one of his segments.

"As you might imagine, we're bottle feeding and doing it at all hours of the day and night," Buttigieg told Jake Tapper in a segment for CNN. "I'm not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins. The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work. It's important work."

Ledyard King of USA TODAY contributedMichelle Shen is a reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her @michelle_shen10 on Twitter. 

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