The Senate Agriculture Committee voted Tuesday evening to send three nominees to the Senate floor, including Alexis Taylor's nomination to be USDA's next trade undersecretary.
The confirmation hearing for Taylor last week showed enthusiastic bipartisan support for President Joe Biden’s choice to be the next trade undersecretary at USDA and farm groups are enthusiastic for her to start working.
Some of the biggest praise for Taylor came from Republicans during the hearing.
“I look forward to supporting your nomination,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, during the Sept. 22 Agriculture Committee hearing.
Taylor will be coming back to familiar surroundings at USDA if approved by the full Senate. She served as deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services during the Obama administration before Oregon hired her to be chief of its Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation is just one of the ag groups that is throwing its support behind Taylor.
“USMEF had many opportunities to work with Ms. Taylor in her previous roles at USDA and we are confident she will continue to be a strong and effective voice for U.S. agriculture,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. “We fully support her prompt confirmation by the Senate.”
The Senate Agriculture Committee also on Tuesday advanced the nominations of Jose Esteban to be USDA’s undersecretary for food safety and Vincent Logan to be a member of the Farm Credit Administration board. Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said all three “have spent their careers as dedicated public servants and are proven to be highly qualified for these critical roles.
Interested in more coverage and insights? Receive a free month of Agri-Pulse!
“Each of these nominees has strong bipartisan support, and I am looking forward to moving them quickly through the Senate,” she added.
Arkansas Republican John Boozman, the committee's top GOP member, said he was “pleased that the committee acted quickly after the hearing to move these three well-qualified nominees forward.”
“I am confident they are up to the task and look forward to working with each of them should they receive Senate confirmation,” he said.
North American Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts offered her organization's support for Taylor and Esteban in a statement Tuesday, saying Esteban is “uniquely qualified to ensure sound science drives food safety and public health decision-making” and Taylor is “the right person at the right time to lead the nation’s focus on strengthening exports, expanding access to new markets and navigating an increasingly unpredictable global economy.”
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
