Thanks to New York Times reporter Katie Rogers, who published a piece on Thursday reflecting on the new type of second spouse in Washington, we finally have some concrete intel on DC’s favorite new power couple: Pete and Chasten Buttigieg.
Chasten, husband of Transportation Secretary Pete, shared several tidbits with Rogers about their Washington life so far. Here’s what we learned.
They definitely live on Capitol Hill
There was some discussion the couple might live in Navy Yard after Pete was photographed riding a Capital Bikeshare bike through the neighborhood, but the pair are situated in a one-bedroom apartment in the more residential part of the city.
They moved here in a rental car
It seems the couple has landed in the District without their own car — a bold statement for a Transportation Secretary, and an explanation for Pete’s aforementioned bikeshare ride.
Their apartment is furnished with items from Facebook Marketplace
In a true display of Midwestern economy, Chasten scoured the online forum to find accoutrements they would need for their new digs, including a lamp — the story notes the couple had been eating Chinese food on the floor in the dark.
Pete takes work Zoom calls from the apartment bedroom
Government officials: they’re just like us. Although Pete does go into the physical office, he’s also been taking video meetings from the apartment’s lone bedroom.
Chasten is often mistaken as the dog walker by Mayor Pete stans
While Pete’s at work or on Zoom calls, Chasten will take their dogs — Buddy and Truman — out for a stroll around Capitol Hill. “‘What’s it like to walk Pete’s dogs?’ he said he is asked. “It’s a living,” is his response.
Jane is a Chicago transplant who now calls Cleveland Park her home. Before joining Washingtonian, she wrote for Smithsonian Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and opera.
