Pete Buttigieg is a near-certainty for Biden's Cabinet

• The multilingual Buttigieg has told friends he wants U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but he may face internal competition from Julie Smith, a longtime Biden foreign policy confidant.
• Former diplomats Wendy Sherman and Linda Thomas-Greenfield are other possibilities.
• Rep. Ted Deutch from Florida also has expressed interest.

Other slots for Buttigieg range from Housing and Urban Development to Veterans Affairs to the Office of Management and Budget.

One key question: How would Kamala Harris feel about having a potential 2024 rival lurking the Cabinet and building a donor base from a perch at the United Nations — and around New York City's big donors?

• Some Buttigieg allies think he should take a job letting him burnish his credibility with the African American community, where he underperformed during the primaries.