WASHINGTON — Democrats urged a U.S. Department of Agriculture nominee to push back against Trump administration policies and stand up for rural communities at a confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Glen Smith, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next Under Secretary of Rural Development, largely responded to these entreaties with broad statements agreeing to look into Democrats’ concerns.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) began his remarks by appealing to both his and Smith’s history growing up on small farms.
“I certainly hope that when you’re at the table, Mr. Smith, that you’ll stand up for the farmers and ranchers where we grew up, where you grew up,” Luján said. “My Republican colleagues are in the majority. They’re in charge. I get that. But in the end, farmers and ranchers shouldn’t get hurt arbitrarily because someone just had a whim about something.”
Rural communities have been increasingly affected by Trump administration policies, including medicare rollbacks, spending cuts and tariffs, which committee Democrats appeared to note.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) focused on workforce reduction in the rural development office in his state, which he described as “overboard.”
Welch said that Smith appeared “sympathetic” to these issues, yet worried about how Smith would negotiate situations where Trump’s policy clashed with farmers’ interests.
“Maybe I’m just putting you on notice,” Welch said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) concentrated on frozen funds, pointing to already awarded energy projects that aren’t being upheld. Klobuchar wanted a commitment that Smith would look into her concerns.
Smith responded to both of these questions with a vague promise to investigate Democrats’ concerns.
“We should all look together,” he said to Klobuchar.
The Trump administration has been under fire for its agricultural policy and its outsized impact on rural communities, as hundreds of thousands of American soybean farmers suffer due to the global trade war. In response to tariffs levied by Trump, China, previously a large buyer of American soybeans, has imposed retaliatory tariffs, effectively halting purchases for extended periods of time.
Indeed, China has now shifted to alternative markets like Brazil and Argentina to purchase soy beans.
After negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Trump announced on social media that Jinping had authorized his country to begin purchasing “massive amounts” of soybeans, sorghum and other farm products. However, the Chinese government has made no public commitment to uphold this agreement, and the deal appears to be a return to the status quo.
Still, Trump’s agricultural nominees continue to express largely uninhibited support for the president.
On Wednesday, Smith said that he had ideas “in carrying out the goals of the Trump administration in serving rural America.”
And, at a confirmation hearing on Oct. 29, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Julie Callahan, Trump’s nominee to serve as chief agricultural negotiator, about Trump’s trade deal with Argentina and how Callahan will serve the interests of U.S. farmers.
Callahan repeatedly refused to answer questions relating to the harm caused to soybean farmers by the Trump administration’s bailout of Argentina. She insisted that China was at fault.
“You can’t even acknowledge that our American soybean farmers are having trouble right now?” Warren asked. “If you can’t answer that question, I don’t see how you can represent American soybean farmers.”
