Sam Clovis, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s liaison to the White House and a former Trump campaign aide, will be departing the agency Friday to return to Iowa.
“Dr. Clovis was one of the first people through the door at USDA in January 2017, and we are grateful for his time here,” a representative for the USDA said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “He is a good man and a patriot who for decades has served his country admirably. While we are sad Dr. Clovis is leaving USDA, we wish him well on his future endeavors back home in Iowa.”
Clovis worked on the Trump campaign as a policy adviser and was nominated by President Trump to serve as the chief scientist at the USDA last year. But he pulled his name from consideration in November.
Senate Democrats and environmental groups criticized Clovis’s nomination after inflammatory comments on race and homosexuality surfaced. He was criticized for his lack of credentials in the field, and Democrats raised questions as to whether he was qualified to serve as the department’s undersecretary for research, education, and economics.
Clovis also came under scrutiny after he was described in a plea agreement stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The plea agreement from George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, outlined contact he had with unidentified campaign officials, including some who urged Papadopoulos to continue his contacts with Russians who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Clovis was believed to have been a supervisor described in the plea deal.
Clovis told Agri-Pulse he is pleased with what the USDA has accomplished through his tenure there.
“I’ve been living out of my truck and a suitcase for five years and I’m ready to go home,” he said. “I think we’ve accomplished a great deal. … I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished and I’m leaving the place in good hands.”
Clovis said he is looking forward to spending time with his wife.
“This was my decision and it was a very personal and difficult decision,” he told Agri-Pulse. “My wife is a schoolteacher and school is about out at home and it’s a good time for me to go home and for us to have the summer together and for me to get a little bit of a break.”
