Democrats are split on who President-elect Joe Biden should choose to run the Agriculture Department.
Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, as well as former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, are names that have floated to the top of speculation. Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and Department of Agriculture secretary under former President Barack Obama, is also being considered.
Rep. James Clyburn, the House majority whip who helped Biden turn his weak campaign around after endorsing him before the South Carolina primary, is pushing for Fudge.
“I feel very strongly,” Clyburn told the New York Times, referring to Fudge’s potential to lead the USDA.
Fudge, an Ohio Democrat, heads the nutrition and oversight subcommittee on the House Agriculture Committee. She would be the first black woman to lead the department.
Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress, said there’s a disparity in the way rural communities are viewed and said black people have contributed more than they are given credit for regarding rural economic growth.
“I’m sick and tired of people saying that rural America is only Nebraska and Iowa,” Clyburn told the New York Post, adding, “We — our forebears — were brought here to develop rural America, the plantations.”
Heitkamp, a centrist Democrat who lost her reelection to the Senate in 2018, is viewed by Democrats as being too friendly with big agriculture businesses and fossil fuel interests, according to Politico.
Heitkamp, who represented one of the most sparsely populated states in the country, said on a conference call with rural organizers earlier in November that Biden’s pick could help reassure voters in rural areas.
“We cannot let the Republicans do 60%, 70% in rural areas and expect our Democratic party to survive,” Heitkamp said on the call.
Clyburn hasn’t commented on the possibility of a Heitkamp pick but alluded that Vilsack would be a poor choice, given that he already had eight years running the agency.
“I don’t know why we’ve got to be recycling,” Clyburn said, adding that he believes black farmers didn’t get a “fair shake” under Vilsack’s previous leadership.
Some Democrats said Biden should take Clyburn’s opinion into consideration, given his help in his campaign early on.
Heitkamp, however, said it would be a choice left only up to the former vice president.
“This is a choice that only Joe Biden can make, and he will make it understanding the unique challenges of rural America and what needs to happen in rural America moving forward,” Heitkamp said.
Biden is expected to choose his first Cabinet nominees on Tuesday.
