Tom Vilsack

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks during a news conference, Thursday, June 29, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. Hundreds of communities around the country will receive more than $1 billion in federal money to help them plant and maintain trees under a federal program that is intended to reduce extreme heat, benefit health and improve access to nature. Vilsack will announce the $1.13 billion in funding for 385 projects at an event Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, morning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) **FILE**

Whistleblower: Federal agency’s HQ is ‘empty’; Vilsack says work is getting done

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack holds up a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefits Transfer (SNAP EBT) card during a news conference at the White House, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Washington. Nearly 21 million children in the U.S. and its territories are expected to receive food benefits this summer through a newly permanent federal program, the United States Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. “No child in this country should go hungry,” Vilsack said in an interview on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

USDA estimates 21 million kids will get summer food benefits through new program in 2024

By Kenya Hunter - Associated Press

Michael Donnelly stands in a grove of old-growth trees in the off-trail area of the Opal Creek Wilderness area, July 30, 2015, east of Salem, Ore. The Biden administration is moving to conserve groves of old-growth trees on federal lands by revising management plans for all national forests and grasslands in the U.S. (Zach Urness/Statesman-Journal via AP, File)

Biden administration moves to protect oldest trees as climate change brings more fires, pests

By Matthew Brown - Associated Press

Second-grade students select their meals during lunch break in the cafeteria at an elementary school in Scottsdale, Ariz., Dec. 12, 2022. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, U.S. agriculture officials proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first-ever limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries. (AP Photo/Alberto Mariani, File)

New rules would limit sugar in school meals for first time

By Jonel Aleccia - Associated Press

Jason Morisseau, an installation and maintenance technician with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, uses a fusion splicer to install fiber optic cable that is being run to a home, in Concord, Vt., Feb. 10, 2022. The Agriculture Department is announcing on Thursday $759 million worth of grants and loans to enable rural communities to access high-speed internet. It's part of the broader $65 billion push for high-speed connectivity from last year's infrastructure law. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

USDA announces $759M for high-speed internet in rural areas

By Josh Boak - Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, Rod Bradshaw stands in a field of wheat on his farm near Jetmore, Kan. Minority farmers who for decades have faced systemic discrimination will receive debt relief beginning in early June under what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in decades. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency on Friday, May 21, 2021, announced it has published the first notice of funding availability for borrowers with qualifying direct farm loans under the American Rescue Plan Act.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel File)

USDA to begin paying off minority farmers’ loans in June

By Roxana Hegeman - Associated Press

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ** FILE **

Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary, says aid to Black farmers happening despite court case

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who the Biden administration chose to reprise that role, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Vilsack confirmed for 2nd stint as US agriculture secretary

By ASHRAF KHALIL - Associated Press

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Oppose Vilsack nomination

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

HOLD FOR STORY BY ROXANA HEGEMAN - FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who the Biden administration chose to reprise that role, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. Joe Biden's nomination of Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department is getting a chilly reaction from many Black farmers who contend he didn't do enough to help them the last time he had the job. The former Iowa governor served eight years as agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Black farmers unconvinced by Vilsack’s ‘root out’ racism vow

By ROXANA HEGEMAN - Associated Press

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who the Biden administration chose to reprise that role, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Agriculture secretary nominee Vilsack endorses biofuels push

By ASHRAF KHALIL - Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2020 file photo, former ecretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks at a campaign stop for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at the LOFT on Jefferson, in Burlington, Iowa. President-elect Joe Biden has selected Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Tom Vilsack faces new challenges as he returns to old job

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and THOMAS BEAUMONT - Associated Press

In this Oct. 28, 2013, file photo, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough listens as President Barack Obama speaks at FBI Headquarters in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden is nominating McDonough as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The sprawling agency has presented organizational challenges for both parties over the years. Biden is continuing to stockpile his administration with prominent alumni of the Obama administration. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Biden taps Rice as domestic policy adviser, McDonough for VA

By JULIE PACE and ZEKE MILLER - Associated Press

In this Nov. 20, 2015, file photo, then-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Tom Vilsack expected to be Biden agriculture secretary nominee

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

Iowa Supreme Court elects Susan Christensen chief justice

By DAVID PITT - Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2020 file photo, former United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks at a campaign stop for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at the LOFT on Jefferson, in Burlington, Iowa. Vilsack will oversee Purdue Pharma’s marketing efforts to ensure the OxyContin maker is not overstating the benefits of its opioid painkillers and downplays the danger of addiction, a strategy that critics say contributed to the nation’s overdose crisis Purdue Pharma announced Vilsack as its monitor on Friday, Feb. 21.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Former Iowa governor, US ag secretary to monitor drugmaker

Associated Press

Former US ag secretary Vilsack wins $150,000 from Powerball

Associated Press

Then-U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack talks with former heroin addict Chris Overka at a meeting at the Hillsborough County Superior Court, Monday, May 9, 2016, in Nashua, N.H., to hear about its drug court program. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) ** FILE **

Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor, questions who can take a punch in 2020 race

By Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times

In this Nov. 20, 2015, file photo, then-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Tom Vilsack, former Iowa gov.: Joe Biden might have benefited by skipping weekend cattle call

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

Vilsack takes job with dairy industry after leaving USDA

By MARY CLARE JALONICK - Associated Press