(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump selected Brooke Rollins, who heads a policy institute created to promote his agenda, as his nominee for US secretary of agriculture.
Rollins’ commitment to supporting the American farmer, food self-sufficiency and the restoration of agriculture-dependent American small towns “is second to none,” Trump said Saturday in a statement.
Rollins is president of the America First Policy Institute, which she founded in 2021 to lay the groundwork for Trump’s eventual return to the White House. Its tasks included creating how-to guides for incoming staffers and policy recommendations from people who served during the first Trump administration.
The institute’s chair is Linda McMahon, a longtime Republican donor and head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s prior term whom he chose on Tuesday to lead the Department of Education.
By picking Texas-born Rollins, Trump turned to an aide who served in his first administration.
“Brooke was on my 2016 Economic Advisory Council, and did an incredible job during my First Term as the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Director of the Office of American Innovation, and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives,” the president-elect said.
The Agriculture Department’s role goes beyond farm policy — it also manages food stamps, school lunches and other nutrition programs, and it’s responsible for forest conservation, food inspections and rural development.
Rollins’ name emerged after CNN reported Friday that Trump was expected to select Kelly Loeffler, a former senator from Georgia and prominent donor.
His ultimate choice was a reminder that no nominee is final until announced by Trump — as evidenced by the contest for Treasury secretary, which spilled into public view and ended up with the president-elect picking hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, who beat out rivals in a dramatic competition after starting off as the front-runner.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.