Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)
A Senate vote on Sonny Perdue’s nomination to be Secretary of Agriculture is scheduled for Monday. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley doesn’t foresee any problems getting Perdue confirmed.
“I think he’ll have broad bipartisan support and probably not more than 40 (senators) against him, and then he’ll be sworn in right away and getting on the job,” Grassley said.
Grassley expects the former Georgia governor to hit the ground running in his new position. “Even though he isn’t Secretary of Agriculture, he’s probably on the job anyway, studying and learning about the various issues. Probably not too deep, at this point, into the farm bill, but everything else with the administration of the department and all the programs within the department,” Grassley said. “I think he’s going to try to be a fast learner.”
There’s been some frustration in the ag community over the long delay in Perdue’s confirmation vote as key USDA leadership positions, including deputy secretary, remain unfilled. If confirmed, Perdue will enter in the job three months after President Trump was sworn in.
(Reporting by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News)