Senate Ag Committee Approves Vaden as USDA General Counsel

Despite concerns, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the nomination of Stephen Vaden as the Department of Agriculture’s general counsel this week. The nomination moves on to the full Senate for a vote. The committee approved the nomination on a 14 to 7 vote, Senate Agriculture ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow, along with fellow Democrats Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly, joined all …

Senate Ag Sets Northey, Ibach Confirmation Hearing

The Senate Agriculture Committee will consider the nomination of Bill Northey and Greg Ibach Thursday. Northey was nominated by the Trump administration to be the Department of Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services. Meanwhile, Ibach was nominated to be undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Northey is the current Iowa agriculture secretary, and Ibach is the Nebraska director …