Trump taps Brooke Rollins to head USDA

President-elect Trump announced that he will nominate Brooke Rollins to be the Secretary of Agriculture on Saturday, building upon a hefty list of Cabinet picks.

“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,” Trump wrote in a release, lauding her family’s background in farming and early involvement with Future Farmers of America in addition to 4H.

Rollins joined the former president’s Economic Advisory Council in 2016 and currently serves as the president and CEO of America First Policy Institute, a think-tank for the former president manned by previous staffers.

In 2021, she launched a $10 million campaign against Biden’s economic agenda and spoke out in favor of Trump’s second White House bid when he fell under scrutiny in the media as GOP members criticized the party’s ticket.

“For every one former Trump official or staffer that now says negative things, you have hundreds that worked for him, that worked in the White House and in the administration that would love the opportunity to go back and work for him again, and would do so in a heartbeat,” Rollins stated.

Her selection comes just a day after Trump announced Scott Turner, another America First Policy Institute leader would join his administration as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Trump's pick of Rollins came as somewhat of a surprise — it was expected that the president-elect would select former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to serve as secretary of Agriculture.

Loeffler will still serve as co-chair of Trump’s second inaugural committee along with real estate mogul Steve Witkoff.