Since Trump's inauguration, the USDA has seen many changes under the new administration. Perdue has been at the head of these changes since coming in as head of the USDA and has begun making dramatic organisational changes.
At the same time the agency has been dealing with some high-profile absences among its top leadership, obstacles that could complicate the agency’s need to pass a new farm bill.
As debates and hearings on the 2018 farm bill continue, filling the lingering vacancies at the USDA is only becoming more pressing. Greg Fogel, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) says that each presidential administration has had its own way of engaging with the bill, from crafting its own extensive policy proposals to barely engaging at all.
The USDA traditionally plays a crucial role in advising Hill staff on how to shape the bill. And yet there is still no nominee for assistant secretary for congressional relations, the office that manages the USDA’s relationship with Senate and House agriculture committees, among others.
Patterson says that the vacancies in political appointee roles “puts a lot of pressure on the secretary” to represent the USDA’s interests to Congress on his own.
She notes that having experienced high-level officials in place to provide technical assistance and to clarify the effects of different policies is essential for a smooth farm bill process. “Having the right voices at USDA advocating, or at least providing an overall understanding of what potential outcomes could be, is an important role,” she says. “It just makes it harder when you don’t have politicians in offices.”
Source: eater.com
