Michael Watson, the No. 2 official at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service since 2018, will be the agency’s new administrator, announced the USDA on Wednesday. He will succeed Kevin Shea, who will become a senior adviser to Xochitl Torres Small, USDA deputy secretary. APHIS, whose duties include overseeing agricultural biotechnology, operates programs to protect U.S. plants and livestock from foreign pests and diseases.
Watson spent most of his career at the USDA but also worked at the FDA and EPA. He holds a doctorate in plant pathology. Shea was administrator for 10 of his 40 years at APHIS.
The USDA also announced the appointment of Betsy Dirksen Londrigan as administrator of the Rural Business Cooperative Service, effective in mid-January. Londrigan has been the Illinois state director of the USDA’s rural development arm since January 2022. Jayme Holliday, a veteran House staff worker, was named USDA senior adviser for food, nutrition, and consumer services.