Washington (AP) As the final candidate to head executive departments and another member of his current network of advisors and supporters, President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he will appoint Brooke Rollins, a former White House assistant, as his agriculture secretary.
The Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump assumes office on January 20, 2025, must confirm the candidate. Rollins would take over for President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, who is in charge of the large organization that sets rules, policies, and assistance initiatives pertaining to agriculture, forestry, ranching, food quality, and nutrition.
Rollins, a longtime Trump associate and former head of Trump’s domestic policy, earned a degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University. She serves as the president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute, an organization that is assisting in the preparations for a second Trump administration.
The 52-year-old Rollins was a former Texas governor Rick Perry’s adviser and the head of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a think tank.
Just two and a half weeks after the former president won the White House again, Rollins’ appointment completes Trump’s selection of the chiefs of executive branch departments. The head of the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Trade Representative are among the several additional appointments that are still at the Cabinet level.
FILE – Brooke Rollins speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Image: Evan Vucci/Associated Press
During the campaign, Trump gave few details about his agricultural policies, but if he follows through on his promise to impose broad tariffs, farmers may be impacted. China and other nations responded to Trump’s tariffs during the first Trump administration by enacting retaliatory taxes on American exports, such as the corn and soybeans that are frequently sold abroad. In response, Trump offered farmers enormous, multibillion-dollar assistance to help them survive the trade war.
In 1862, when over half of all Americans lived on farms, President Abraham Lincoln established the USDA. The USDA is in charge of several farmer assistance programs, plant and animal health, and the safety of the beef, poultry, and eggs that serve as the foundation of the country’s food supply. Food is provided to low-income individuals, expectant mothers, and small children through its federal nutrition programs. The organization also establishes guidelines for school lunches.
Trump’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pledged to exclude ultraprocessed foods from school lunches and to prohibit recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from using food stamps to purchase soda, candy, and other so-called junk food. However, USDA, not HHS, would be in charge of implementing such modifications.
Additionally, HHS and USDA will collaborate to complete the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 edition. They include guidelines for federal nutrition programs and recommendations for healthy diets, and they are due late next year. ___ From Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Gomez Licon reported. This report was written by JoNel Aleccia and Josh Funk of the Associated Press.
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