Stacy Dean, a key figure in U.S. public nutrition programs since the early days of the Biden administration, whose tenure included the lightning-rod increase of SNAP benefits in 2021, will leave USDA in mid-July. President Biden twice nominated Dean to serve as Agriculture undersecretary for nutrition but the nomination never advanced in the Senate.
“USDA is grateful to Deputy Undersecretary Dean for her leadership in advancing some of the most significant achievements in the nutrition and food security space in decades,” said a USDA spokesperson. Cindy Long, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service, will take Dean’s place in USDA leadership.
Republicans in the House and Senate have written into their 2024 farm bill proposals language that would block the USDA from repeating the 2021 increase. The 21 percent increase in benefits was the result of a USDA recalculation, carried out under a provision of the 2018 farm law, of the cost of a healthy diet. Congressional Republicans say the USDA abused its discretion in implementing the increase.
Before joining the USDA, Dean directed food assistance research at the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She previously was a budget analyst at the Office of Management and Budget at the White House.
The post of Agriculture undersecretary for nutrition has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration.