Brooke Rollins, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, was confirmed on Thursday by the Senate as the agriculture secretary. Rollins, 52, was confirmed by a vote of 72-28. As head of the United States Department of Agriculture, Rollins will lead a 100,000-person agency with offices in every county in the country, whose remit includes farm and nutrition programs, forestry, home and farm lending, food safety, rural development, agricultural research, trade and more. The agency had a budget of $437.2 billion in 2024. Before her confirmation, Rollins served as president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative, pro-Trump think tank she formed in 2021 alongside other members of the former president's orbit while out of office. A conservative lawyer, Rollins also served in the final year of Trump’s first term as acting director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council.
Conservative lawyer Brooke Rollins was confirmed Thursday as secretary of agriculture, placing a close ally of President Donald Trump into a key Cabinet position at a time when mass deportation plans could lead to farm labor shortages and tariffs could hit agricultural exports. Rollins, who served as chief for domestic policy during Trump’s first administration, was confirmed overwhelmingly by the Senate in a 72-28 vote. Rollins will now lead a department tasked with overseeing nearly all aspects of the nation’s food system, including standards on farming practices and livestock rearing, federal subsidies to farmers or agribusinesses and setting nutrition standards for schools and public health officials nationwide.
Rollins was easily confirmed by the Senate shortly after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Trump's Health secretary. Most recently, Rollins has served as president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute think tank, which she co-founded after Trump's first term. In Trump's first administration, she was his director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council. The newly elected president announced his selection of Rollins for USDA chief in November, recalling she did "an incredible job" during his first term. "Brooke’s commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none," he said.
