6 weeks later, senators question delay on agriculture pick Perdue
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump picked former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be his agriculture secretary six weeks ago, but the administration still hasn’t formally provided the Senate with the paperwork for the nomination.
The delay is frustrating farm- state senators, who represent many of the core voters responsible for helping elect Trump.
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee needs the paperwork before the chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts, can schedule a confirmation hearing.
“I don’t know yet,” Roberts, R-Kan., said Wednesday when asked about Perdue’s information. “I wish I did. We need a champion for agriculture, we need him on board.”
Roberts also complained about the delay at a committee hearing in Kansas last week. He predicted Perdue would be confirmed quickly once the Senate can get started on the nomination.
The White House said the paperwork, including ethics forms and an FBI background check, is coming soon. The only other nomination that hasn’t been sent to Capitol Hill is that of Alexander Acosta, who was nominated to be labor secretary on Feb. 16 after the withdrawal of the original nominee, Andrew Puzder.
Senators say they haven’t been given an explanation for the delay involving Perdue.
“They don’t seem to have a reason as to why his name hasn’t come up,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters after asking around about the Perdue nomination.
The delay comes as some farm-state lawmakers question whether Trump is paying enough attention to rural areas, which overwhelmingly voted for him.
After Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night, Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Jon Tester of Montana both noted the president didn’t specifically mention rural America in his hourlong speech. Both senators are up for re-election in 2018.
“There wasn’t a mention of rural America, a farm bill, or agriculture workers, and these should be focuses for any leader of our country,” Heitkamp said, noting that President Barack Obama often omitted farm country in his speeches to Congress as well. “You wonder why people in rural America feel left out and feel disenfranchised? Because they never hear anything about them,” she said.
Tester said lawmakers need to keep rural issues “front and center” for the new president, who is from New York City.
“The tendency is to go where you know, and I’m not sure he knows rural America very well, so it’s just an opportunity to remind him that you’ve got to pay attention,” Tester said.