Ag Policy Blog

Glen Smith, President Trump's nominee to be Agriculture undersecretary for Rural Development, made commitments to both Republican and Democratic senators on Wednesday at his Senate Agriculture Committee confirmation hearing.

In his opening statement, Smith, a member of the board and former chairman of the Farm Credit Administration, said his first priority is to add value to raw, bulk agricultural products, followed by improving rural Internet services and increasing the housing supply.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said she would consider transferring some USDA divisions to other government agencies, but Smith told Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., he agrees with her that the rural Housing Service should stay at USDA.

Smith was also asked for his views on providing childcare. He said it is important to take into consideration the fact that most rural families today are two-income and he supports providing childcare through community facilities that come under the USDA rural development mission area.

In responding to questions from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Smith emphasized his belief in the importance of high-speed, high-quality Internet service in rural America. He noted that when he chaired the Farm Credit Administration during the pandemic, he had trouble accessing proper service to conduct meetings from his home near Atlantic, Iowa. At another point in the hearing, he said he hated to be "repetitive" on his commitment to high-speed, high-quality Internet service, but he realizes how important it is to rural hospitals.

When Welch told him USDA has inadequate rural development staff in Vermont, Smith said he would need data to be able to answer that question.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., pressed Smith to commit to "follow the law and court orders," and Smith said he would. Lujan noted the Trump administration canceled the program that provided for farmers to provide food to schools and the current uncertainty over providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November. He also told Smith he fears cuts to the Medicaid program will result in the closure of rural health care facilities that come under the rural development mission area.

Smith promised Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, he would support ethanol, and promised Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., he would help connect rural electric power to oil shale production.

After the hearing, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., told The Hagstrom Report he hopes Smith can be considered for confirmation by the full Senate in the next tranche of Trump nominees.

Boozman also said he did not attend the breakfast Trump held for Republican senators Wednesday morning because he was meeting with farmers and Farm Credit lenders from Arkansas. At that meeting, Trump pressured senators to end the filibuster to break the government shutdown.

For a full video of the hearing, go to:

https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/…

Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com

Follow him on social platform X @hagstromreport

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