Brooke Rollins, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, is scheduled to appear before senators on Thursday to explain how she plans to manage the Department of Agriculture, which supports the U.S. agricultural sector and administers food assistance programs.
Mr. Rollins, who served as a White House official during President Trump’s first term, does not have the resume of a traditional Secretary of Agriculture. But looking at her past, it seems like she is interested in this field. She participated in a youth agriculture program and earned a degree in agriculture. According to her public financial disclosures, she owns show cattle for agricultural development.
She also led two prominent conservative think tanks and served as general counsel to the governor of her native Texas. If she is confirmed, it would mark a break with recent secretaries who have typically been governors or lawmakers from farm families.
She has garnered the support of nearly every major agricultural group, including the influential American Farm Bureau and trade associations representing America’s largest crop growers. The letter, signed by more than 400 organizations, specifically cites the “close working relationship” with President Trump as an asset.
Senator John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican and chairman of the Agriculture Committee, praised Rollins’ credentials after meeting with him in December. This means she has gathered enough support to win confirmation. He said she is “well-positioned to be a strong voice and advocate for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.”
If confirmed, Mr. Rollins will oversee an agency with an annual budget of more than $200 billion and nearly 100,000 employees. Although Congress determines most of the department’s funding levels, the Secretary of Agriculture still has significant influence over federal food and agriculture policy.
Under the Biden administration, the department has increased food stamp benefits, provided billions of dollars in funding for so-called climate-smart agricultural practices and provided compensation to Black farmers who have faced discrimination. The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have opposed some of these efforts and may seek to roll them back.
At her confirmation hearing, Ms. Rollins is likely to be asked about two of President Trump’s top policy priorities: tariffs and cracking down on illegal immigration, and how they could affect the agricultural sector. For example, Canada has suggested it could impose retaliatory tariffs on Kentucky bourbon and Florida oranges, causing economic pain for grain and citrus growers. And mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants could reduce a major source of agricultural labor.
After more than two decades in conservative politics, Ms. Rollins has said little publicly about agriculture and food policy, but the two think tanks she leads may offer some insight into her positions and interests.
The America First Policy Institute, a group she helped found in 2021, has warned of the risks of Chinese ownership of American farmland and criticized the Biden administration’s expansion of food stamp benefits and its energy policies. Her former think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, has traditionally opposed efforts to curb fossil fuel and agricultural subsidies and ethanol mandates, which have enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress.
Lawmakers may also ask Rollins about the role Trump’s pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will play on agriculture and food policy. During the campaign, Mr. Trump said he would let Mr. Kennedy “get crazy about food,” and Ms. Rollins once praised his platform as “appealing” to young, independent voters.
But Kennedy’s agenda may run counter to the more traditional approaches of agribusiness and farm groups. He has expressed support for removing certain foods from school lunches and food stamps, claiming they are unhealthy. He emphasized organic and regenerative agriculture, reducing pesticide use, reforming subsidies for commodities such as corn and soybeans, and opposing seed oils such as canola and sunflower.
The Trump administration recently filled senior positions at the Agriculture Department with officials with more traditional backgrounds in the field. This includes the chief of staff who led the National Oilseed Processors Association, which includes seed oils.
