Trump’s USDA, HHS picks advance
From an article in MeatingPlace by Tom Johnston
U.S. Senate committees have sent President Trump’s nominees to head the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (HHS) to the full chamber for confirmation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose confirmation hearing last week was one of the most closely watched so for for Trump cabinet hopefuls, cleared the Finance Committee on Tuesday by a 14-13 party line vote. The environmental lawyer’s past positions on food, commercial-scale farming and health policy have raised concerns among agricultural groups, given an HHS’ purview that includes the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) praised Kennedy’s “commitment to ending the chronic disease epidemic and improving the transparency of our health care systems.”
With a bipartisan 23-0 approval on Monday, the nomination of Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture now moves to the full Senate. In a statement, Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) urged the Senate to confirm Rollins.
“Brooke Rollins is a dedicated public servant who will bring her lifelong commitment advocating for rural America to USDA,” he said. “She has proven her understanding of the unique circumstances farm families face, the current challenges in rural communities and how she can improve policies to protect agriculture producers. I appreciate her willingness to serve and encourage my colleagues to quickly confirm her so USDA will be guided by her dependable leadership.”
Rollins, the president and CEO of conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, graduated with honors from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development. She told the Ag Committee that deploying disaster and economic aid efficiently to farmers would be among her top priorities.
Ag Committee members had asked her how she would handle potential retaliatory tariffs as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on major trading partners.