Trump Officially Names Brooke Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

After a host of names had been floated in recent weeks for the top job in agriculture, President-elect Donald Trump announced Brooke Rollins would be running the USDA.

National media widely reported Friday the pick would be Kelly Loeffler, a former Georgia Senator who grew up on a farm in Illinois, but a surprise came on Saturday when Rollins was announced as the choice.

Rollins is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute and was previously the director of the Domestic Policy Council during the first Trump administration. Rollins is originally from Texas and graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development. She then earned a law degree at the University of Texas School of Law.

Rollins is originally from Glen Rose, Texas, and she and her husband Mark, currently reside near Fort Worth.

According to NPR, during the first Trump administration Rollins also served as assistant to the president for intergovernmental and technology initiatives. After leaving the White House, Rollins was among a group of senior advisers to create the new nonprofit group aimed at promoting Trump's policies, NPR reported.

“Brooke’s commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none,” Trump wrote in a release, which also lauded her family’s background in farming and early involvement with Future Farmers of America in addition to 4H.

Rollins must be confirmed by the Senate before she takes the helm at the USDA, which has more than 100,000 employees and a budget of more than $200 billion. She will face some formidable tasks ahead.

The last Farm Bill signed in 2018 by Trump hasn’t been reauthorized by Congress, and she may need to manage fears in the agricultural industry about nominated Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promise to scrutinize allegedly unhealthy chemicals and ingredients used in food.

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