U.S. ag lobbyists are paid to worry about a lot of things, and that includes the recent choice of Brooke Rollins to be President-elect Donald Trump’s USDA Secretary in his second administration. But checks with a key Trump analyst says Rollins “will be highly effective on issues impacting ag and food that are in the purview of other Federal Departments and agencies.”
Inside sources say to watch Trump’s executive orders and 100-day plan coming, especially relative to budget reconciliation which only needs a majority vote in the Senate. Sources say those coming initiatives could boost a GOP desire for work requirements and other SNAP changes. That could make writing a new farm bill next year easier (not easy). Rollins is currently chief executive of a think tank that has advocated stronger work requirements for SNAP recipients.
The U.S. ag sector should also recall that Rollins was one of the finalists for White House chief of staff — that tells you want Trump thinks about her.
Rollins grew up on a farm in Glen Rose, Texas, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. She earned several degrees at Texas universities. She ran a state-level think tank before working in the first Trump administration, where she was director of the Domestic Policy Council. In that role she had to be conversant on a host of policy issues, including agriculture, energy, tax and economic issues
Regarding her access to the president, I personally compare her to Dick Lyng, who was a friend of “Dutch” Reagan when he was president. Dick could simply get on the phone, call the White House chief of staff and immediately talk with the president the few times of importance he needed too.
As is always the case but especially now, the selections for USDA Deputy Secretary and Undersecretary positions will be key in how Rollins and the Trump administration execute what they want from USDA.
Rollins is on board regarding Trump’s trade-and-tariff plans. The president-elect made sure of that in his questioning of key candidates for several posts, including those at USDA, Treasury, Commerce, the National Economic Council and adviser roles, and other slots.
What people tell me about Rollins is that she is a consensus builder and has confidence in her staff. That tells me she is confident in herself. A good mark to have.
Another item many Washington veterans discount but they should not: the DOGE Commission, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to get the U.S. gov’t more efficient and save a lot of money (no, that is not an oxymoron). It may have more impacts than most realize, including at USDA, for reasons we will focus on in the weeks ahead.
Bottom line: Rollins grew up on a farm. She knows and studied rural development in her academic career. She already has clout with Trump, and she will need it with the ag sector facing key interagency issues dealing with biofuels, trade and tax issues intersecting several Cabinet offices. Her organizational and communications skills will come in handy in those endeavors. But again, like Reagan, the ag sector should “trust, but verify.” Rollins report card is ahead.