Nebraska Public Media: Nebraska officials react to Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture

Nebraska officials react to Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture

By Brian Beach , Reporter Nebraska Public Media

Nov. 26, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Brooke Rollins, who currently serves as the America First Policy Institute president and CEO, as his Secretary of Agriculture. (Photos by Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia and Liberty Photo Art)

The CEO of a conservative think tank was nominated as President-Elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture over the weekend.

Brooke Rollins founded the America First Policy Institute in 2021 in order to advance Trump’s public policy agenda. During Trump’s first term, Rollins led the administration’s Domestic Policy Council.

Rollins was not among the names reported as potential nominees early on in the search. Late last week, former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler seemed poised to take over the role.

Charles Herbster, a prominent Nebraska Republican donor who led Trump’s rural vote coalition in 2024, had also been floated as a potential nominee. After Rollins’ nomination, Herbster wrote that it was an "extreme honor to have been considered by my friend President Donald J. Trump for the position of Secretary of Agriculture."

Rollins grew up in the small town of Glen Rose, Texas and participated in the Future Farmers of America and 4-H. She later received a degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University and a law degree from the University of Texas.

In a statement to Nebraska Public Media News, Congressman Mike Flood wrote, “Agriculture is Nebraska’s number one industry, supporting one in four jobs in our state. Brooke has broad experience in shaping conservative policy and is a trusted advisor to President Trump. I’m looking forward to working with her to grow American agriculture and to fight for our farm and ranch families.”

Congressman Adrian Smith showed similar enthusiasm, writing, “President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has firsthand experience in generational family farming and a proven record of delivering policy wins for hardworking Americans. From volatile input costs to crushing overregulation to vulnerable supply chains, the challenges facing our farmers and ranchers are serious, and I look forward to working with Mrs. Rollins and the Trump administration to ensure the future of American agriculture is bright.”

John Hansen, the president of the Nebraska farmers Union, had some concerns over Rollins’ lack of agricultural policy experience.

"I don’t see the normal kind of nuts-and-bolts logistics over farm programs and whatnot in her background," he said.

He described the Secretary of Agriculture nomination as the "last helicopter out of Saigon" for Trump allies hoping for a cabinet position, and said he believed loyalty to the president-elect was valued above policy expertise in Trump’s nominations.

But Hansen said Rollins’ close ties to the next president could help advance the agricultural agenda.

"One of the important things, outside of knowing and understanding agriculture and all of its complexities, was whether or not the Secretary of Ag, in fact, had the ear of the president so that they could help get the president’s attention when needed to help move things through in the ag sector, and it appears that she does," he said. "So that’s a good thing."

Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue wrote that the next Secretary of Agriculture will have a lot to accomplish.

"The federal policy "to-do" list of farm and ranch families is long with a new Farm Bill that provides additional risk management and trade promotion resources, expanding trade access to new markets around the globe, extending the Trump tax cuts of 2017, and ensuring environmental and other federal regulations make sense for agriculture are all at the top of the list."

Rollins will have to be confirmed by a Republican-majority Senate when it convenes in January.