President Trump’s chief political operative at USDA, Sam Clovis, is unqualified to serve as undersecretary for research and should be rejected by the Senate, said the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury-News. At nearly the same time the newspaper labeled Clovis as “an anti-science blowhard,” 22 U.S. farm groups asked the Senate Agriculture Committee for swift confirmation of Clovis, a co-chair of Trump’s presidential campaign.
It may be a while before senators vote on Clovis. The White House announced last week the president’s intention to nominate Clovis for undersecretary, a step before formal nomination papers are sent to Capitol Hill. Senate committees typically spend a couple of weeks reviewing a nominee’s background before scheduling a hearing. Once a nomination is approved by committee, Senate leaders decide when to bring it to a floor vote.
“The Senate should reject the nomination,” said the Mercury-News editorial. “Naming an anti-science blowhard to a job meant for a scientist would be like Ford picking a CEO who rides a horse to work.”
Like other critics, the California newspaper said that Clovis’ background shows he is unqualified for a position that doubles as USDA’s chief scientist. By statute, the undersecretary is to be chosen from “distinguished scientists with specialized or significant experience in agricultural research, education and economics.” By contrast, Clovis has degrees in economics, business administration and public administration. “Clovis has never taken a graduate course in science and is openly skeptical of climate change,” says ProPublica. A professor at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, said: “He has published almost no academic work.”
“He is not a scientist, let alone qualified to be a ‘chief scientist.’ Congress needs to take a stand,” said the Mercury-News.
In their letter, the farm groups said Clovis would be a strong proponent for the publicly funded agriculture research system, although he is not a scientist. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture already employs some of the finest and most dedicated scientists in the world. They do not need a peer. They need someone to champion their work before the administration, the Congress and all consumers around the world,” said the letter. “We encourage swift action to approve his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”
Those signing the letter included the largest U.S. farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and groups representing corn, soybeans, cotton, rice, cattle, pork, dairy, egg, sorghum, barley, canola, peanut, potato, lentil, apple and dry-bean producers, along with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the National Grange, Southwest Council of Agri-Businesses and the Western Growers Association, which represents produce growers.
The second-largest U.S. farm group, the National Farmers Union, and the National Association of Wheat Growers, said they have no position on Clovis.