The U.S. Senate will not be taking a vote to confirm Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue this week. Instead, the Senate will be focusing time on a filibuster and confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. With an upcoming recess, the delay means the vote for Perdue won’t happen until late this month, at the earliest. The former Georgia Governor was the final cabinet nomination by President Donald Trump, made the day before Trump’s inauguration. A wait on ethics papers delayed the process further. Perdue’s nomination was voted out of the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, with just one vote against the nomination. Agriculture groups are eager to see Perdue take his office at the Department of Agriculture. Last week, a group of farm organizations signed a letter noting USDA “has been without political leadership for over two months, longer than nearly every other Cabinet-level agency.” The groups added there is a growing list of issues at USDA, “particularly given the troubling economic conditions in rural America.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.