By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, Feb. 21, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate confirmed Brooke Rollins 72-28 on February 13^th as the 33^rd Secretary of Agriculture, and the second woman to lead the USDA. On Friday, Feb. 14, she was sworn in and addressed a gathering of over 400.

Rollins pledged to bring greater efficiency to the USDA to better serve farmers, ranchers and the agricultural community. 

“We welcome the DOGE efforts because its work makes us better, stronger, faster and more efficient,” said Rollins of the review of USDA already underway by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk.

She announced an end to identity politics, pledging equal dignity. 

Rollins also said the USDA will be “returned to its basic purpose,” with a focus on its core missions of supporting American farming, ranching, and forestry.

In a Feb. 14 news release, Rollins noted that the DOGE review continues to be comprehensive and announced the first tranche in a series of reforms.

USDA is currently reviewing more than 1000 contracts for possible termination. The department has already terminated 78 contracts, which totaled more than $132 million. Some of these contracts were proposed procurements that were discontinued before they went into effect, according to the news release.

The news release gave 10 examples of terminated contracts, which totaled just $4.21 million. Ending Politico subscriptions at $2.77 million, represented the bulk of the money in the examples. Other items listed ranged $30,00 to $300,000, such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) ‘onboarding’ specialist, Diversity Dialogue Workshops, a Brazilian Forest and Gender Consultant, a Women and Forest Carbon Initiative Mentorship Program, an international training and education for women to increase their participation in climate change adaptation, and a Central American Gender Assessment Consultant.

Rollins also rescinded all DEI programs, including 948 employee trainings focused on DEI, Environmental Justice, and gender ideology.

The Department is pursuing an aggressive plan to “optimize its workforce by eliminating positions that are no longer necessary, bringing its workforce back to the office, and relocating employees out of the National Capital region into our nation’s heartland to allow our rural communities to flourish,” she said.

On her second (Feb. 15), Rollins met with farmers at the Championship Tractor Pull in Kentucky, then traveled to southwest Kansas Monday (Feb. 17) to tour dairy and beef operations and have a producer roundtable with Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., prime sponsor of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in the U.S. Senate. 

Reform of the Dietary Guidelines was mentioned in a tweet from these discussions, something Secretary Rollins will work on jointly with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also confirmed Feb. 13 in a narrow Senate vote.

At the Top Producer Summit in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, Feb. 18, Rollins addressed expanding trade access and cutting regulatory red tape for farmers. She also announced looking toward federal policy to prevent China from buying U.S. farmland.

USDA Secretary Rollins was also appointed this week by the Trump Administration to work together with National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett — collaborating with scientists and global experts — to spearhead a new avian influenza strategy that moves away from mass euthanization of infected poultry flocks to prioritize enhanced biosecurity measures and medication to control spread.

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