Two months after President Trump selected Sonny Perdue to serve as his secretary of agriculture, the former Georgia governor has become the final Cabinet member to get a confirmation hearing on the books, raising questions about why a seemingly routine appointment has languished behind the scenes longer than any of Trump’s other picks.
Sources familiar with the situation have pointed to a variety of factors, from the timing of Perdue’s nomination to his complicated financial affairs, to a White House that has become too overwhelmed by other political battles to provide the nominee with adequate support.
But allies still contend that Perdue is the right choice for agriculture secretary, and Trump’s team has projected confidence that he will sail through what remains of the Senate confirmation process.
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that Perdue had help from the administration to clear Office of Government Ethics requirements.
“Former Governor Perdue and the White House worked together very efficiently to navigate the complex financial issues necessary to get him precleared by the Office of Government Ethics,” the official said. “With this hard work behind us, we are confident he will be confirmed.”
A source familiar with the proceedings said some of the delays could be attributed to Trump not announcing his selection of Perdue until two days before the inauguration.
“The only other thing that was different with him was that he was [nominated] at the end of the process, so the transition team operated during the transition, but as soon as the inauguration happened, everybody was then kind of filed out of the transition and into the administration,” the source said. “So there really wasn’t a full transition left once he was nominated.”
That source pointed to delays in securing Perdue’s routine FBI background check, which is required of all administration officials.
“The FBI was pretty backlogged,” the source said. “You can probably find plenty of people who started their job and still hadn’t gotten their FBI backlog cleared.”
A transition spokesperson said Perdue completed all of his ethics paperwork in one week, but had to wait on the administration to process it.
“Yes, it was slower than most,” the spokesperson said of Perdue’s confirmation process. “He just happened to have some unfortunate luck by being the last nominated on January 19, and there was a huge backlog of paperwork.”
However, the spokesperson said Trump’s team was not to blame for the delays.
“The governor has absolutely nothing but accolades for the White House,” she said. In the meantime, the spokesperson noted, Perdue has met with “almost 70” senators.
Perdue submitted his ethics paperwork to the Senate on March 10 — a day later than Alexander Acosta, the labor secretary nominee whom Trump selected as a replacement for Andy Puzder on Feb. 16.
Perdue, on the other hand, was tapped to lead the Department of Agriculture on Jan. 19, giving him nearly a month more time to prepare his paperwork than Acosta.
A source familiar with Perdue’s team said the former Georgia governor felt as though Trump staffers had caused delays in the process.
“It’s dysfunction in the White House, that’s my understanding of it,” the source said. “They don’t understand why the White House is holding it up.”
“There’s no problem, there’s no issue holding it up, there’s nothing in committee holding it up … that’s what they don’t understand,” the source added. “Perdue people didn’t feel like the delay was coming from their end.”
Debbie Dooley, a Georgia tea party activist who supported Trump in the state, said Perdue is “a very thorough person” who likely wanted to ensure his paperwork was correct before turning it in.
“I was thrilled with his appointment,” Dooley said, defending the White House’s handling of his nomination.
“They picked him as the nominee, I wouldn’t think they’d go back,” she said. “I think they’re just focused on the executive orders and repealing Obamacare now.”
Financial forms given to the Senate Agriculture Committee last week painted a complex picture of the assets and business ties that Perdue had to address before his nomination could proceed.
Perdue offered to resign his positions with the National Grain and Feed Association, Perdue Management Holdings LLC, the Bipartisan Policy Center Governor’s Council, the Georgia Agribusiness Council, and Perdue Business Holdings, Inc., according to documents made public by the Office of Government Ethics.
The former Georgia governor said he would remain in control of two other holding companies, Perdue Properties LLC and Perdue Real Estate Holdings LLLP, but noted that the “dormant” entities generate no income and promised he would “not participate personally and substantially” on any matter that would benefit the companies financially.
Perdue also vowed to restructure a pair of eponymous trusts in order to insulate himself and his wife from potential conflicts of interest. Within 90 days of his confirmation, Perdue and his wife would stop serving as trustees for the Perdue Family Revocable Management Trust and the Perdue Family Wealth Preservation Trust, both of which would shed the former governor’s surname.
An agriculture industry analyst questioned why Perdue’s confirmation process has taken longer than nominees with far greater financial assets.
“It’s also extremely weird considering that billionaires were able to pass … with almost no issue, Gov. Perdue’s paperwork took two months,” the analyst said. “Ignoring the fact that they have gotten candidates with much broader ethical and financial concerns through Congress with — not speed, but not the stalled action we’ve seen with Gov. Perdue — the other thing is that the governor has had ethical concerns in the past.”
During his tenure as governor, Perdue faced several minor ethics complaints and two — an improperly-reported ride on a family airplane and his acceptance of campaign contributions in excess of state limits — resulted in a negative finding or fine.
Perdue is expected to be confirmed easily now that his hearing has been scheduled for March 23. Some Democrats, including Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, have already indicated they will vote in favor of Trump’s agriculture secretary nominee.
