Biden’s USDA Pick Can Fix His Old Mistakes — and Then Some
Tom Vilsack's checkered legacy should motivate him to meet challenges on worker safety, discrimination and climate change.
Tom Vilsack gets a do-over at the USDA
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Tom Vilsack's selection as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Agriculture seems like it should have been a safe choice, given that he held the role for eight years under President Barack Obama. Instead, those eight years have given critics ammunition for attacks fueled by outrage and derision. Vilsack has been condemned as an industry loyalist who tolerates animal cruelty and opposes civil rights. Upon his nomination, Mother Jones magazine wrote, “Biden Picks Stale White Bread to Lead the USDA.”
As Vilsack's confirmation hearing gets underway this week, there’s good reason for concern about his long track record. But visionary change at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is still possible — even under stale-white-bread leadership. It's a different and more visible job now than the one he took on 12 years ago, with far greater urgency and opportunity to push through reforms.