Vice President Kamala Harris administered the oath of office to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack through a Zoom link on Wednesday, the first virtual swearing-in performed by Harris. “Congratulations, Mr Secretary and to the whole family,” said Harris. “The president is so excited. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ll do it together.”
For the ceremony, Vilsack used the same Bible, a gift from his parents when he was 16, that he used on becoming governor of Iowa and when he became agriculture secretary in 2009. Harris stood in front of a large video monitor at the White House; Vilsack was at his home in Des Moines. His wife, Christie, held the Bible. A son and daughter in law, Jess and Kate Vilsack, and their three children stood a few feet behind Vilsack.
Vilsack told Harris that he had spoken by telephone to her husband, Doug Emhoff. “We want to get him involved in nutrtion,” he said.
Soon after the swearing-in, Vilsack used his new Twitter handle, @SecVilsack: “40+ years as a public servant and I’m finally sending my first tweet! Honored to serve our nation once again alongside USDA’s dedicated public servants.”
A White House photo of the event is available here.