Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ chief of staff, Kailee Tkacz Buller, left USDA Thursday and will be replaced by Tate Bennett, effective immediately.
The change was first reported by Politico and confirmed by a USDA spokesperson.
"Serving under President Trump and Secretary Rollins as USDA’s chief of staff has been the greatest honor of my career," Tkacz Buller told Agri-Pulse. "I look forward to sharing more soon on my next step and will continue to cheer on the department and wish them tremendous success."
Tkacz Buller had served as Rollins’ chief of staff since inauguration in January 2025.
Bennett joined USDA as principal deputy chief of staff in January. Earlier, she was director of rural policy at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute Rollins founded in 2021 where she had a key role guiding the think tank’s “Farmers First Agenda” launched in April.
Bennett held numerous roles in the first Trump administration, including special assistant to the president for agriculture, trade, and food assistance at the White House National Economic Council, and agriculture adviser to the administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Before joining USDA, Tkacz Buller was president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association and president and CEO of the Edible Oil Producers Association.
Tkacz Buller is an alumna of the first Trump administration where she served in numerous positions at USDA, including as chief of staff to then-Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky, a senior adviser on biofuels and an adviser in the Office of Congressional Relations during the 2018 farm bill process.
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