Nearly a year after Tom Vilsack became agriculture secretary, his corps of sub-cabinet executives, the eight undersecretaries who oversee each wing of the USDA’s activities, is just half filled. The White House has yet to announce candidates for two of the posts, and two other nominations await Senate action.
Nominees are yet to be named for undersecretary for nutrition, in charge of programs such as SNAP and school lunch, and undersecretary for trade, whose duties include export promotion and negotiations. Early this year, Vilsack said the administration was looking for a new nominee for the nutrition post following the withdrawal of its original choice.
A Senate vote is pending for Chavonda Jacobs-Young, nominated to be undersecretary for research. Jose Emilio Esteban, nominated for undersecretary for food safety, is awaiting a confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee.
The Senate confirmed Homer Wilkes as undersecretary for natural resources, with a portfolio that includes the national forests and grasslands, on Tuesday. Three other undersecretaries have been confirmed. They are Robert Bonnie, in charge of crop subsidies and conservation; Jennifer Moffitt, in charge of marketing and regulatory programs, and Xochitl Torres Small, in charge of rural economic development.