Three of President Trump’s nominees have been given Senate approval to begin work at the USDA and the CFTC. Senators confirmed James Hubbard for agriculture undersecretary for natural resources, and Dawn Stumpf and Dan Berkovitz as commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced Senate Agriculture Committee leaders on Tuesday.
The main task for Hubbard, a lifelong forester, will be oversight of the U.S. Forest Service, with 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. During a confirmation hearing in July, Hubbard said he would personally combat sexual harassment in the 32,000-member agency. “Harassment has no place” in the Forest Service, he said.
Under the arcane procedures of the Senate, Stumpf, a Republican, and Berkovitz, a Democrat, were confirmed in tandem so that neither political party would have undue advantage at the CFTC. Action on Stumpf was delayed for a year until Berkovitz was nominated and cleared for a floor vote. With confirmation of the nominees, the CFTC will have its full complement of five commissioners.