Two days after the news leaked, President-elect Joe Biden formally announced Tom Vilsack as his nominee for agriculture secretary on Thursday. The Vilsack nomination was one of five announced for officials in charge of domestic programs. Vilsack led the USDA throughout the Obama years and his return was broadly supported by farm, consumer and anti-hunger groups, although reformers worried that small farmers, Black farmers, and local food producers would be overlooked.
“This is the right team for this moment in history, and I know that each of these leaders will hit the ground running on day one to take on the interconnected crises families are facing today,” said Biden in a statement. The other nominees were Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge for housing secretary, Denis McDonough for veterans affairs secretary, Katherine Tai for U.S. trade representative, and Susan Rice as director of the Domestic Policy Council.
The five officials were to take part in a news conference on Friday afternoon with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
During the Obama era, Vilsack was a proponent of biofuels, larger farm exports, rural economic development, and public nutrition programs. He advised Biden on farm and rural issues during the fall campaign. In recent years, Vilsack has called for Democratic engagement with rural America to improve the party’s standing outside of urban areas. Rural America voted 2-to-1 for President Trump this year and in 2016. Rural activists argue that a more populist message would attract support, though House candidates with progressive platforms struggled this year.
To read Tom Vilsack’s biography as it appears on the Biden-Harris transition site, click here.