Steve Vaden is wearing two hats at USDA: He’s the White House nominee to become the department’s top lawyer, known as the general counsel, and he is effectively leading the legal shop as the principal deputy general counsel. Politico says morale “has plummeted” because Vaden “is enforcing workplace changes that have provoked unusually bitter labor negotiations” and because of his record in private practice defending state voter ID laws that were challenged as racially discriminatory.
“The result is uneasiness and mistrust among the more than 250 legal professionals that he will officially oversee if the Senate confirms his nomination,” said Politico, who interviewed eight USDA lawyers for its story. Vaden arrived at USDA as part of the Trump “beach head team” in January and has been named principal deputy secretary. Amid USDA negotiations over a new contract with its unionized lawyers, Vaden has demanded more uniformity in work hours and eliminated a promotion structure for new hires, according to Politico. Some employees say Vaden lacks managerial experience, having worked as an associate at law firms following graduation from law school in 2008.
At his most recent employer, he was part of a team that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in cases in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia in defense of voter ID laws. “That work is raising concerns among USDA attorneys, who highlighted the department’s history of discrimination against minority farmers,” says Politico. One USDA attorney said a deaf ear to the nuances of regulations could put USDA at a disadvantage in a court case. The USDA has paid hundreds of millions for discriminatory treatment of minority farmers in the past.
There also are questions, said Politico, if Vaden’s role at USDA violates a law that “prohibits most people who have been nominated to fill a vacant government position from performing that office’s duties in an acting capacity.” The administration says it tailored Vaden’s appointment as principal deputy general counsel to comply with the law. A USDA spokesman said complaints about Vaden were “an obvious union negotiation tactic. USDA does not conduct its negotiations through the pages of Politico or any other news publication.”