
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will hold a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins next Thursday. The Jan. 23 hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, and can be watched online on the Senate ag committee website.
So far, there has not been much public opposition to the Rollins nomination. During an interview with Farm Progress last week, Senate ag committee Chair John Boozman said he thinks Rollins will do an excellent job leading USDA. The Arkansas Republican believes her agriculture background and the trust President-elect Trump has in her will serve Rollins well. When he met with her earlier this month, Boozman said he could tell she has a real “love” and “appreciation” for rural America.
“I don’t think she’s going to have any problems at all with the confirmation,” Boozman says. “We want to get her started as soon as possible as the leadership that we need so that we can get a farm bill passed and just do the day-to-day things that our farmers depend on.”
Multiple agriculture advocacy groups agree. On Wednesday, more than 380 of them sent a letter to Boozman and Senate ag committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar expressing their support for Rollins. According to them, she has “brought the perspectives” of the American farmer and rancher to various roles across her career. The groups credit her for championing rural priorities when she led the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term. They also say her experience as an executive at two large public policy organizations has prepared her to effectively lead USDA.
Rollins was the president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative leaning think tank, from 2003 to 2018. After Trump left office in 2021, she founded the America First Policy Institute. That organization advocates for Trump’s policy priorities.
“Her close working relationship with incoming President Trump will ensure that agriculture and rural America have a prominent and influential voice at the table when critical decisions are made in the White House,” the ag groups say in their letter. “It is important for Congress to act on Agriculture Secretary-designate Rollins’ nomination in light of the many difficulties facing America’s farmers and rural America.”
The ag committee hearing is the first step in the confirmation process. Sometime after the hearing, committee members will vote whether or not to recommend her nomination. Rollins is widely expected to receive their support.
The full Senate must then vote on the nomination. Rollins will only need a simple majority to become the nation’s 31st Secretary of Agriculture.
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