By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Only one Agriculture Department undersecretary and one assistant secretary have been confirmed by the Senate, but when the holders of many USDA sub-Cabinet positions get to their desks they will find that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has already put their confidential and special assistants with proven Obama campaign experience in place.
"These individuals, representing diverse backgrounds, strengths and skills, are a dynamic team prepared to address the issues facing 21st century food and agriculture," Vilsack said in a recent news release announcing the hiring of 14 aides. "They are committed to the president's goals for a prosperous rural America and a strong American agriculture and they believe that U.S. agriculture must play a leadership role in tackling the nation's renewable energy challenges."
Vilsack announced that the confidential assistant for Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Jim Miller is Elisabeth Reiter, a director of advance for Obama's campaign who previously worked on many other campaigns, including for Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
Vilsack also announced that the special assistant to Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Joe Leonard is Cristina Chiappe, the Latino vote director for the Obama campaign in Virginia. Chiappe, a native of Peru, has also been a research associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership's National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth in Washington.
The other campaign aides are assigned to offices in which the undersecretary has not yet been confirmed.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
With his two latest picks for key USDA posts, President Obama is signaling a possible shake-up in several programs that have historically gotten little attention, including nutrition and agricultural research.
Kevin Concannon, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, has been tapped to be USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services -- a post that oversees, among other things, the food stamp program -- while Rajiv Shah of the Gates Foundation has been nominated for USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics. Both appointments, announced Friday, require Senate confirmation.
The undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services has traditionally not been a high-profile position. But with food stamps and school meals programs, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, now totaling about 68 percent of the department's budget, or $80 billion, that is set to change.
The child nutrition programs are scheduled for reauthorization this year, and Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack want to make the fight against child obesity a priority. The position will be critical as the debate over child nutrition and obesity policy are likely to lead to conflicts among agricultural sectors over what foods the government buys and what messages it sends the public.
As Iowa governor, Vilsack appointed Concannon as director of the department in 2003, and Vilsack's successor, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, reappointed him in 2007. Iowa DHS is in charge of food assistance as well as cash welfare and medical aid programs.
Continue reading Obama's USDA Picks Might Signal New Priorities.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday appointed Michael Scuse as USDA's deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services in charge of domestic affairs. Scuse will oversee the Farm Service Agency, which distributes farm subsidies, and the Risk Management Agency, which handles the crop insurance program. Scuse has been chief of staff to Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware, and from 2001 to 2008 served as Delaware's secretary of agriculture. Scuse will report to Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Jim Miller.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has filled several key posts in his department, including aides who will focus on nutrition programs and rural development. Vilsack appointed Janey Thornton, a former school nutrition director in Elizabethtown, Ky., as deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. FNS manages the food stamp, school meal and commodity distribution programs that spend about $80 billion per year, two thirds of the agency's $120 billion budget. Vilsack said Thornton, a former president of the School Nutrition Association, will provide policy direction for the FNS and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Thornton will report to the undersecretary for FNS, a position not yet filled by President Obama.
Vilsack also appointed Cheryl Cook, a former National Farmers Union official and deputy secretary in the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department, as deputy undersecretary for rural development. Cook will report to the undersecretary for rural development. Obama has nominated Dallas Tonsager, a Farm Credit Administration board member, to that post, but Tonsager has not had a Senate confirmation hearing. Vilsack also appointed Doug O'Brien, a former Senate Agriculture Committee counsel, as chief of staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. O'Brien has also served as an adviser to Iowa Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, and has been an assistant secretary in the Ohio Agriculture Department. The appointments were announced late Friday.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce Friday he has chosen Burnham John (Bud) Philbrook to be Agriculture deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services in charge of international affairs. Since 1994, Philbrook has been president and CEO of Global Volunteers, an organization that sends Americans on volunteer vacations on American Indian reservations and 21 countries overseas. The Minnesota native also practiced law, served in the state House and worked as assistant commissioner in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. As deputy undersecretary, Philbrook will oversee USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, and cover trade and food aid issues. He will report to Jim Miller, the USDA undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services.
CongressDaily's Jerry Hagstrom reports (subscription) that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today he favors a single food safety agency, but he has not decided whether it should be located in USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the FDA or an independent agency.
Commenting on the salmonella peanut butter scandal, Vilsack told the U.S. Rice Federation that the issue of centralization is key because food safety is both a human health and market issue. "We are the only industrial nation to have two systems," Vilsack said, a reference to USDA's responsibility for meat, poultry and eggs and FDA's responsibility for most other food products.
Vilsack's statements have come as something of a surprise to lawmakers and lobbyists. Agribusiness has opposed the idea vigorously in the past, and lawmakers have found the job of reorganizing the food safety system daunting.
For more on this story, read CongressDailyPM.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
The Obama administration will reverse two last-minute agriculture decisions made by the Bush administration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today in his first telephone news conference. The department will scrap a plan to pay for mandatory country-of-origin labeling with $3.2 million from a fruit and vegetable block grant program, and the public comment period on a farm subsidy payment limit rule has been extended for 60 days. It was due to expire Wednesday.
In other administration news, AP reports that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will name Todd Stern, the Clinton White House's top negotiator in the Kyoto Protocol talks, as a special envoy for climate change, according to U.S. officials.
Subscribers can read the full reports on the Agriculture Department moves and the Stern hiring at CongressDaily.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
(Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
Speculation on who might fill USDA subcabinet posts is intensifying on Capitol Hill and among lobbyists, but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he would not discuss any personnel matters until they are announced.
After being sworn into office by Vice President Joe Biden, Vilsack told reporters in his office at USDA that he and his staff "are going to take our time" in selecting appointees. Vilsack said he thinks "it's unfortunate there are those who would speculate on [who is going to hold] positions."
The names of three Vilsack aides have been posted on a chart of top personnel in the entrance to the USDA administration building.
They are John Norris, a former Iowa Democratic Party leader and chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board, as chief of staff; Carole Jett, a former Natural Resources and Conservation Service official who retired and contributed money and time to the Obama campaign, as deputy chief of staff; and David Lazarus, a former aide to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and key Obama rural campaign director, as special assistant.
Meanwhile, a House Agriculture Committee member and a key Senate aide said they believe Chuck Hassebrook, executive director for the Center for Rural Affairs, is a top candidate for deputy secretary.
By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
In Cabinet confirmation hearings today, Lisa Jackson pledged a focus on science at the Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture pick Tom Vilsack said nutrition would play a role in health care reform, and Eric Shinseki said he would work to transform Veterans Affairs into a "21st-century organization."
Jackson, the head of New Jersey's environmental protection agency, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that "science must be the backbone of what EPA does." Her remarks overjoyed committee Democrats, who have been battling with current EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson over regulatory issues that they said were influenced more by interest groups than scientific findings. Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the panel's ranking member, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, stoutly defended Johnson but indicated they will not stand in the way of Jackson's confirmation. Jackson also promised committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that she would promptly review California's request for authority to set clean-air standards that are stricter than the EPA's. Under President Bush, the EPA had denied these requests.
Vilsack -- who as Agriculture secretary would be in charge of food stamps, school breakfast and lunch funding, and programs to help pregnant women and newborns -- told the Senate Agriculture Committee he would "make a serious effort to market good eating habits as a way of helping your country." He said he has agreed to work with Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle toward this goal. A strong government push on nutrition could set off bitter lobbying battles among farm groups, but as Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin noted, child nutrition is the only program the Agriculture Committee must reauthorize in 2009. Harkin, a fellow Iowa Democrat, said the committee is likely to approve Vilsack's appointment unanimously; the full Senate is scheduled to vote on Inauguration Day.
Shinseki, who helped begin a massive Army transformation effort when he served as the service's chief of staff between 1999 and 2003, said he expects to face similar challenges modernizing the VA. "Leadership, commitment and teamwork enable the challenges of transformation to become opportunities to innovate and better serve our veterans," Shinseki told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. In the near term, Shinseki said he would work to craft a "credible and accurate" FY10 budget during his first 90 days in office, focus on clearing the department's backlog of medical claims and work with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ensure a seamless transition for troops leaving the military and entering the VA.
In other confirmation developments, Treasury pick Timothy Geithner's hearing has been rescheduled for Jan. 21 after GOP senators blocked his unanimous consent request to hold it on Friday. Reports that Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes when he worked at the International Monetary Fund several years ago threw his nomination into doubt Tuesday. Geithner also faces questions about the immigration status of a former housekeeper. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., reiterated that he thought Geithner would still be confirmed despite his missteps: "This was an honest mistake."
BY JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin said he expects his committee to swiftly confirm fellow Iowa Democrat Tom Vilsack as Agriculture secretary, but other congressional leaders were a little more restrained in their praise and farm leaders were mixed on the former governor.
"Tom Vilsack has a strong record in Iowa on building opportunities in renewable energy, conservation, food and nutrition, experience that will serve him well as secretary of Agriculture," Harkin said. "With our economy in a downturn, Tom Vilsack knows how to bring change that will rebuild rural economies and keep them vibrant. As someone who has been a supporter of Tom Vilsack from the time he ran for governor to the time he ran for president, I believe he will be a strong Secretary of Agriculture and I expect a swift confirmation by the Senate Agriculture Committee."
President-elect Barack Obama and Vilsack may, however, have some fence-mending to do with the Iowa senators. Both Harkin and Republican Charles Grassley noted in early news releases that they had heard about the nomination from news reports, not from the Obama transition office. "This comes as a surprise since about three weeks ago Governor Vilsack stated that he was not in contention for the job, but it sure isn't a surprise because of his qualifications," Grassley said. "As governor of Iowa, he has a firsthand look at the role of agriculture in our global economy. I'm happy for him, happy for Iowa, and this is welcome news for agriculture."
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who had earlier said that he would prefer someone more experienced with Washington than a governor, congratulated Vilsack and called him "a strong advocate who understands the changing landscape of our nation's rural economy." On Nov. 5, Peterson told Reuters that Obama should nominate for Agriculture secretary "somebody who understands agriculture, who has knowledge of agriculture." Peterson added, "I'm not big on governors and so forth."
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said he was looking forward to working with Vilsack, but also said, "With the selection of Governor Vilsack, Iowa agriculture will be well represented in both the legislative and executive branches." Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who opposed the farm bill, said, "I am optimistic about this appointment -- Tom Vilsack has a strong commitment to land and water conservation policy, and has indicated a desire to reform USDA agriculture payments, including a tighter cap on commodity subsidies."
Continue reading Harkin Expects Quick Confirmation For Vilsack.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Groups representing farm, agribusiness and consumer interests, joined by lawmakers, praised President-elect Obama's selection today of former Iowa Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack to be Agriculture secretary, calling him a centrist who could represent all agriculture concerns.
At a news conference in Chicago, where Obama also officially introduced Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., as his designated Interior secretary, Vilsack said his first priority would be to improve profitability for farmers and expand opportunities in rural America while encouraging sustainable agricultural practices.
Vilsack avoided the issue of trade but said he would work with other federal departments on climate change, indicating support for legislation and international treaties that many farm leaders fear will force changes in U.S. agricultural production methods. Vilsack said he would put "nutrition at the center of all food assistance programs," an indication he will get involved in a congressional battle next year over reauthorization of children's nutrition programs. Nutrition advocates want those programs to address child obesity and related diseases. Meat, dairy and sugar interests are likely to fight changes that would reduce federal and school purchases of their products.
Continue reading Diverse Array Of Groups Pleased With Vilsack.
By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Obama announced the selection of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Agriculture Department and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to head up the Interior Department at a press conference this morning.
Obama stressed that in addition to safeguarding the environment, both departments will play a central role in domestic energy production.
"Our wide open spaces are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, they are the foundation of a brighter future," he said. "How we harness our natural resources -- from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado -- will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future."
Salazar and Vilsack aren't quite a slam dunk for the green wing of the party. Salazar has been a fierce opponent of oil-shale exploration, but he was also part of a bipartisan coalition of senators who signed onto a plan that would have expanded offshore drilling opportunities. Vilsack has been a staunch supporter of biofuels, which have serious skeptics in the environmental community, and has been a close friend of the agribusiness community as well.
Still, Obama said business interests will be one of the stakeholders -- not the stakeholder -- in decisions about conservation and agriculture.
"It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families," he said. "It means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people."
Salazar, who arrived at the press conference in his trademark cowboy hat and bolo tie, will take over an Interior Department that was rocked by charges of sexual misconduct, drug use and graft earlier this year. Salazar is the former attorney general of Colorado.
Vilsack also adds a new wrinkle to Obama's "team of rivals." As a short-lived candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination, the former governor becomes Obama's fourth primary opponent in the administration, joining Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson. After dropping out of the race in February 2007, Vilsack endorsed Clinton in the primaries.
By JERRY HAGSTROM, CongressDaily
Two weeks into Barack Obama's transition, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack continues to be the most-discussed candidate for Agriculture secretary, according to farm-savvy sources consulted by National Journal and CongressDaily. The sole opposition to the Vilsack option came from the Organic Consumers Association, which issued a pre-emptive statement criticizing the former governor and 2008 presidential candidate as too enthused about biotechnology interests and too close to Monsanto, the agribusiness seed company.
Initially a diehard Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter during the Democratic primaries after he ended his bid, Vilsack swiftly switched to support Obama once he won the nomination. Vilsack worked the state in which he remains a popular figure and helped Obama's impressive campaign team keep Iowa in the blue column.
