Inside D.C.

What’s in a name…or title?

As the clock counts down to Christmas – I am sorry to mention that – there’s plenty of heavy-duty issues, including Farm Bill evolution, tax reform/cuts, NAFTA, KORUS, etc., to which ag is paying serious attention.  However, this week there was a relatively lighthearted moment, and who can’t use an occasional lighthearted moment in this town?

The chuckle came midweek when Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts (R, KS) pulled together his committee just off the Senate floor for a quick business scrum, the point of which was to formally approve the nominations of Nebraska Director of Agriculture Greg Ibach to be USDA under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, and long-time Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey to be under secretary for…well, under secretary for what is kind of up in the air right now.

President Trump nominated Northey to be USDA under secretary for farm production and conservation, a new title coined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as part of his recent reorganization of USDA subcabinet program areas.  Northey’s new gig is supposed to be all about domestic farm and ranch programs, including oversight of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA).

However, when Northey showed up at the ag committee for his confirmation hearing last month, his prospective job was listed by its pre-reorganization title of under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services.  That’s a bit problematic given newly minted Under Secretary for Trade & Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney is now in place, and the whole foreign ag thing is his baby.

Back on the Senate floor, committee Democrats  were quick to question whether Northey can legally take on his new role as fashioned by Perdue’s reorganization since to be confirmed the Senate had to confirm him as under secretary of farm and foreign agricultural services – the old title.  This is because under its advise-and-consent rules, the Senate can only confirm an individual for the job which legally exists and for which he/she is nominated, not a job reinvented and/or retitled.  Absent a legislative fix, the Senate’s only option would be to restart the confirmation process.

There will, of course be heavy lifting  to ultimately ensure Northey and McKinney are doing the jobs for which they’ve been chosen. Roberts and ranking panel member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) are not about to start at square one on Northey’s nomination.  They wrote to Perdue this week to tell him that Northey’s job description will be curtailed a bit for a while, but “we commit to working with the department to advance legislation which provides clarity about the titles of the undersecretaries and their positions and duties at USDA.” This will likely mean inserting a two line “fix” in a must-pass piece of Senate legislation at the earliest possible opportunity.

And in true Perdue fashion, the secretary said he’s unconcerned about “nomenclature and titles,” and just wants Northey working as soon as possible.