Progressives have pushed back on Vilsack s nomination because they felt he was too aligned with major agricultural corporations during his previous stint as USDA chief. More recently, Vilsack has been president of the dairy lobby group the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
Vilsack’s work as a lobbyist also raised concerns among progressives, many of whom wanted restrictions on former lobbyists working in the Biden White House. The U.S. Dairy Export Council is a major industry lobbying group and Vilsack previously worked as a registered lobbyist for the law firm Dorsey & Whitney.
“I opposed his confirmation today because at a time when corporate consolidation of agriculture is rampant and family farms are being decimated, we need a secretary who is prepared to vigorously take on corporate power in the industry,” Sanders said in a statement.
Senate confirms Vilsack as Agriculture secretary thehill.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehill.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Expectations for meaningful legislation are high, but Rep. Joyce Beatty
“I think the pressure that we have is on our side . we elected two new senators who were basically unknown to the nation . and that was in part because of Black women and Black Americans,” Beatty told The Hill. “I think we are well-positioned to lead on voting rights and civil rights issues.”
The surprise blue sweep in Georgia heavily credited to Stacey Abrams and the Peach State’s other Black voting rights activists returned razor-thin control of the upper chamber back to Democrats. Vice President Harris will cast tie-breaking votes in the 50-50 Senate.
Top White House positions such as chief of staff, national security adviser and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, as well as Cabinet posts such as secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence, have gone to people who worked in the Obama administration.
And while Biden has put an emphasis on diversity of race and gender for his incoming administration giving a handful of top roles to women and people of color his choices have included few new faces, with top positions going to people he served alongside in the Obama years or worked with before that.