USDA nominations
Senators, USDA nominee agree labels should say if it’s animal or cell-based meat
When cell-based meat appears in grocery stores, it should be labeled so that consumers know it came from a lab and not from livestock, two cattle-state senators told the Trump administration’s nominee to run the USDA’s food safety unit on Wednesday.
USDA nominee earned $100,000 in ‘pink slime’ trial
Texas Tech professor Mindy Brashears, President Trump’s nominee for agriculture undersecretary for food safety, collected $100,000 as an expert witness for Beef Products Inc. in its defamation lawsuit against ABC-TV last year.
Senate confirms USDA and CFTC nominees
On Tuesday, the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee announced that three of President Trump’s nominees have received Senate approval to begin work at the USDA and the CFTC.
Senate ag panel set to vote on CFTC and USDA nominees
Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee are scheduled to vote Tuesday on two Trump administration nominees, Dan Berkovitz to be a CFTC commissioner and James Hubbard to be agriculture undersecretary for natural resources.
‘Harassment has no place’ in the Forest Service, says USDA nominee
Lifelong forester James Hubbard told senators on Tuesday that if he is confirmed as agriculture undersecretary for natural resources, he will personally combat sexual harassment in the 32,000-member Forest Service.
Skeptical greeting for USDA nominee Hutchins
The Senate should reject President Trump’s nomination of DowDuPont executive Scott Hutchins for USDA chief scientist, said Food and Water Watch on Wednesday, calling him “a particularly egregious gift to the chemical industry that imperils our food system from field to plate.”
Trump chooses Big Ag executive for USDA chief scientist
Scott Hutchins, an executive at DowDuPont, is President Trump’s choice for USDA chief scientist, announced the White House on Monday. The post of chief scientist, which doubles as undersecretary for research, has been vacant since Trump took office.
Former Trump co-chair Sam Clovis leaves USDA
Six months after withdrawing his nomination for USDA chief scientist, Sam Clovis will leave the department on Friday and return to Iowa. The nomination was doomed when Clovis was caught up in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Senate confirms Doud as chief U.S. agricultural negotiator
The Senate confirmed Gregg Doud as the chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. trade representative’s office. He was the second Trump nominee confirmed by the Senate to an agriculture-related post this week.
Midwestern senators try to force vote on Northey for USDA post
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz thwarted an attempt by midwestern senators for an immediate vote on the nomination of Bill Northey of Iowa to be the No. 3 official at the USDA, in charge of farm support and land stewardship programs.
Iowa senators see deadlock over Northey and ethanol
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is sitting on the nomination of Bill Northey for USDA undersecretary in hopes of winning destructive changes in U.S. ethanol policy, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley during a telephone news conference.
USDA’s top lawyer says politics not a part of reassigning senior officers
Stephen Vaden, the former Trump transition official now serving as the USDA’s interim chief lawyer, says politics played no part in the reassignment of 13 of the department’s top-rank and highest-paid civil servants since the new administration took office.
Trump tells oil-patch senators to look for a biofuel compromise
President Trump, a staunch supporter of corn ethanol, told nine senators from oil-producing states to take their complaints about federal biofuel mandates to their farm-state colleagues and find a mutually acceptable solution.
Senate confirms Smith to Farm Credit board
The Senate has confirmed Glen Smith to serve on the Farm Credit Administration board, but two other Trump nominees for agricultural posts are being blocked.
USDA nominee Clovis is on the periphery of Papadopoulos Russian mess
As a co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Sam Clovis handled emails from foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who tried from April to August 2016 to arrange a meeting between the campaign and the Russian government and has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about it. According to one report, Clovis is the unnamed "Campaign Supervisor" cited in court documents who told Papadopoulous in mid-August, "I would encourage you" to make an off-the-record trip to Russia.
Northey nomination for USDA may move in December
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won’t let go of his “hold” on USDA nominee Bill Northey, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, so he and fellow Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst have appealed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to arrange a vote. “We want to do it as soon after Nov. 30 as we can,” Grassley told ag reporters.
Low commodity prices spur Senate interest in idling cropland
Senators from the Plains and Upper Midwest pressed for expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program during a friendly confirmation hearing for Bill Northey, the USDA nominee who would run the program as agriculture undersecretary.
Clovis still on shelf as Senate Ag sets new hearing on USDA nominees
For the second time, the Senate Agriculture Committee will consider President Trump’s nominees for USDA policymaking positions, though it has yet to schedule a hearing for Sam Clovis, co-chair of Trump’s presidential campaign and the most controversial USDA nominee in 15 years. Instead, committee leaders called a hearing for Oct. 5 on Bill Northey, nominated for undersecretary for farm production and conservation, and Greg Ibach, for undersecretary for marketing and regulation.
Senate confirms U.S. ag negotiator and USDA food safety chief
In some of its final actions of the year, the Senate approved by voice vote on Thursday the nominations of Doug McKalip as chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. trade representative’s office and Jose Esteban as Agriculture undersecretary for food safety.