US Senate confirms Brooke Rollins to lead the USDA

By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Brooke Rollins, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump and former White House policy advisor who has expressed doubt about climate change, to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Rollins will head an agency with 100,000 employees that oversees farm programs, food benefits, and school meals. Her appointment comes at a time of low farm income, potential cuts to domestic food aid, and an aggressive campaign to reduce the federal workforce led by billionaire Elon Musk.

The Senate voted 72 to 28 to confirm Rollins, after its Agriculture Committee held Rollins' nomination hearing on January 23 and on February 3 advanced her unanimously.

Rollins spent 15 years as the head of a conservative Texas policy organization backed by the oil industry. Under her tenure, the group produced reports criticizing ethanol and farm subsidies. In her nomination hearing, Rollins said the reports were decades old and did not reflect her current policy positions, and that she supports ethanol.

The American Coalition for Ethanol's CEO Brian Jennings said in a statement that the group looks forward to working with Rollins on finalizing the 45Z clean fuel tax credit and expanding biofuel infrastructure.

In follow-up questions after her nomination hearing, Rollins was asked by Agriculture Committee ranking member Amy Klobuchar if she believes climate change is a threat to U.S. farmers and ranchers. She replied, "We all know the climate changes throughout the year, but the cause and solutions are not widely understood or defined," according to a copy of her responses seen by Reuters.

House Agriculture Committee chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson and ranking member Angie Craig both said in statements that Rollins was assuming the role at a critical time for agriculture and they looked forward to collaboration.

Rollins was acting director of the White House Domestic Policy Council in Trump's first administration, and then led the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned policy group.

The Trump administration's freeze on most foreign aid and some farm grant and loan programs has led to work stoppages at a network of agricultural research labs and has meant some farmers are not getting expected government payments.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nia Williams)