Grassley discusses Trump’s pick for Secretary of Agriculture

NEW HARTFORD — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says for the time being, he is looking at the nomination of former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture in a friendly way. She is currently the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative, pro-Trump think tank she formed in 2021 with other members of the former president’s aides while he was out of office.

Grassley says he does remember chatting with Rollins about her agriculture background.  “I believe I remember a very short conversation with her about her agriculture background in Texas, going to Texas A&M, and maybe some discussion of cattle, but it was a very short conversation and it was more about her personal background than it was probably a discussion about agriculture. So you know, a girl that as a young girl was in 4H and FFA, she must know a little bit about agriculture but I don’t know how much.”

Grassley says he looks forward to meeting with Rollins before she appears before the Senate’s Agriculture Committee.  “So I’ll have a chance to discuss things with her that are very important to us like agricultural trade, like the next five-year Farm Bill, about my goal to put a limit on the amount that one family farmer can get from the farm program so we can target it toward medium and small farmers and not subsidize mega-farmers to get more mega, and how many other things are there to talk about in agriculture.”

Grassley says he’s keeping an open mind about the pick of Rollins.   “I look at her nomination in a very friendly way. I hope it’s something I can vote for, but I never announce in most cases, I don’t announce until the hearing is over whether it’s for agriculture, or Secretary of HHS or Secretary of Treasury, all those important positions. I’ll be meeting with people and asking them questions in open session, and then I make up my mind and announce it. I don’t look unfavorable towards her nomination.”

In making his announcement over the weekend picking Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture,  President Trump said that she will “spearhead the effort to protect American farmers who are truly the backbone of our country”.