Sonny Perdue, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, on Tuesday selected three individuals for senior leadership positions at USDA, held up by lack of Senate approval by shifting their tittles to those that do not require Senate confirmation, USDA said in a press release.
In May 2018, President Trump nominated Dr. Mindy Brashears as Under Secretary for Food Safety, a position that has not been filled since Elisabeth Hagan left the job in 2013 during the Obama Administration. Secretary Perdue re-nominated Dr. Brashears as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety.
“I want to thank Secretary Perdue for moving forward to fill this important position,” commented NCC President Mike Brown. “As we have in the past, NCC urges the Senate to confirm Dr. Brashears as soon as possible.”
Secretary Perdue also named two other unconfirmed appointees, Naomi Earp as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and Dr. Scott Hutchins as Deputy Under Secretary for Research Education, and Economics.
All three had been confirmed by the Senate Agriculture committee to more senior roles, but their nominations expired without receiving confirmation votes by the end of the 115th Congress in January. President Trump has resubmitted their nominations to the Senate in the 116th Senate.
The three previously had been nominated by President Trump for Senate-confirmed positions at USDA. While the Senate Agriculture Committee favorably reported all three nominees, their nominations expired without receiving confirmation votes by the end of the 115th Congress in early January. President Trump has resubmitted their nominations to the Senate in the 116th Congress.
While in their deputy roles as selected by Secretary Perdue, they will not be serving in “acting” capacities for the positions for which they have been nominated. As a result, they will not be able to exercise the functions of power expressly delegated tot he Senate-confirmed positions, USDA said.
“At USDA, we’ve been engaged in fulfilling our mission without all of our players on the field, so we want to get these strong, qualified leaders in the game,” Perdue said. “I want to thank these three for their patience, as their professional lives have been placed on hold for months during their nomination process. Now, they will get to work right away on behalf of the American people. Nevertheless, I urge the Senate to act on their new nominations as quickly as possible, so we can have them in the positions for which they were intended in the first place,” Perdue said.
Brashears, Earp, and Hutchins began working at USDA on Tuesday, January 29.
