In what may be a sign that the USDA is in for a long wait before the U.S. Senate confirms Mindy Brashears as Under Secretary for Food Safety, Trey Forsyth has been named acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety.
It was only in April that Forsyth was appointed Chief of Staff for the USDA Office of Food Safety, and now moves up to be the acting deputy under secretary. In that post, he’ll run the FSIS until the Senate confirms Brashears.
Senate confirmations of presidential appointments have nearly stalled out. Brashears finds herself in a line of 253 Trump appointees awaiting Senate confirmation. Only 102 Trump appointees have won the required confirmation votes. This far into Trump’s second term, the government is operating primarily with holdover and temporary appointments.
President Trump nominated Brashears to be USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety on June 2.
Brashears served as Undersecretary for Food Safety for the last 303 days of Trump’s first term, which turned out to be the most significant period for any Under Secretary for Food Safety in history, as those were the days of the pandemic. It was when the U.S. food industry experienced an “extreme demand shock” and fears that shortages could lead to panic. Brashears, responsible for food safety in the entire meat sector, worked to keep the industry from closing down while keeping on-site inspectors on the job.
The Senate Committee on Agriculture is charged with reviewing Brashears’ nomination. It has not yet scheduled a hearing. The last time, Brashears had to wait almost 700 days for Senate confirmation. Then-Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue got tired after the first year of delay and named Brashears as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety.
Brashears is a professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University and the director of TTU’s International Center for Food Industry Excellence.
Before joining the USDA, Forsyth served as a professional staff member for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, working under Chairman John Boozman. In that role, he handled portfolios related to livestock, poultry, dairy, animal health, food safety, and taxation
Additionally, Forsyth has served as senior manager of federal and industry relations for Land O’Lakes, director of government affairs at the Torrey Advisory Group, and also worked as policy advisor to Gregg Doud, the Chief Agriculture Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Forsyth’s roots in agriculture began at his family’s swine and row crop farm in northeast Iowa. He gradually built expertise in agricultural policy, trade, and sustainability.
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