Kennedy’s past makes him an unlikely candidate for agriculture secretary, according to Daniel Glickman, who served in the role during Bill Clinton’s presidency. “It’s hard for me to imagine, given Trump’s traditional base in the heartland, that he would choose someone who was a proponent of breaking up big farms and consolidated agriculture,” Glickman says.
Like the top positions at HHS, the USDA secretary position would need to be confirmed by a vote of the Senate. “I don’t think (Kennedy) is a slam dunk,” Glickman says.
Trump’s choice for USDA chief during his first term was Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor and founder of an agricultural trading company. Most agricultural secretaries have a background in industry or politics – two crucial sectors for the person who will be in charge of a department that employs nearly 100,000 people and is made up of 29 agencies, including forestry programs , conservation and nutrition. “The difference between Sonny Perdue and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is like night and day,” says Glickman.
If Kennedy were to be confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture, he might have difficulty implementing the more radical parts of his agenda. He is an outspoken critic of pesticides, but the USDA is not generally responsible for regulating them, says Dan Blaustein-Rejto, director of agricultural policy and research at the Breakthrough Institute. Instead, the EPA regulates pesticides used in public health.
Although he may not be able to directly influence pesticide regulations, Kennedy said he would attempt to “weaponize” others agencies against “chemical agriculture” by commissioning scientific research on the effects of pesticides. The USDA Agricultural Research Service has a discretionary budget of nearly $2 billion for research on crops, livestock, nutrition, food security and natural resources. resource conservation.
There are other levers an agriculture secretary could pull, Blaustein-Rejto says. USDA invests 3 billion dollars thanks to the Climate Smart Products Partnership – a project intended to make American agriculture more climate-friendly. Perhaps a USDA chief could put his thumb on the scale by influencing the selection criteria for these types of programs. The USDA also oversees the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which has a $5 billion fund that it uses to support farm income and conservation programs, as well as to help farmers affected by natural disasters . It is possible that a USDA leader could influence how these CCC funds are distributed by the agency.
Kennedy also argued that corporate interests had taken over America’s dietary guidelines, and he pledged to eliminate conflicts of interest from USDA groups that develop dietary guidelines. The U.S. dietary guidelines are developed jointly by the USDA and HHS and are updated every five years, giving the Secretary of Agriculture limited opportunity to influence the recommendations.
“If RFK plays a high-level political role, I expect there will be a lot more talk about ultra-processed foods, but I’m not sure what that would actually entail in terms of dietary guidelines.” , says Blaustein-Rejto. .
Experts WIRED spoke with largely believe Kennedy’s most extreme positions will likely be constrained by bureaucracy. But the message a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist would send remains a serious concern as a possible second Trump administration approaches.
