Just elected to a second term as senator from Kansas, Republican Jerry Moran quashed reports that President-elect Donald Trump wants him to serve as agriculture secretary. Moran told KWCH-TV in Wichita that he has not been offered the position.
“I have been given a great opportunity to continue serving Kansas in the United States Senate and that will be my focus,” said Moran. The television station ran as its headline, “Moran: ‘I have not been offered the position of Secretary of Agriculture.'”
Moran’s name emerged after a flurry of reports that Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, defeated in the GOP primary, was interested in leading USDA. “People who are in the room have been talking to me. If you’re looking to be an outsider I would be quite a pick to fit that,” said Huelskamp to reporters on Capitol Hill. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback also has been mentioned for USDA, among a dozen people viewed as possible appointees.