Brandon Lipps and Pam Miller have new roles at the Department of Agriculture, and USDA will have another mission area led by a deputy undersecretary rather than a Senate-confirmed official.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue swore the two into new positions in Washington on Friday, and Monday marked their first day in their new roles. Lipps is now serving as deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services. Miller took over Lipps’ former job as administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service.
In a statement announcing the promotions, Perdue said Lipps and Miller have “extensive experience in nutrition policy and have already been serving in FNCS leadership positions. I am confident they will hit the ground running and continue the great work the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services does to feed those in need.”
Lipps had been FNS administrator for two years after being named to the position in July of 2017. Since that time, he has also been working as the deputy undersecretary in an acting capacity. He has been tasked with speaking publicly about some of the Trump administration’s nutrition policy efforts ranging from the “Harvest Box” distribution plan for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to USDA’s thoughts on child nutrition reauthorization on Capitol Hill.
Miller joined USDA in September as the senior associate administrator for policy at FNCS. Her time in Washington also involved 20 years on Capitol Hill, most recently working for the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. She also worked for the House Agriculture Committee during drafting of what would become the 2014 farm bill.
The Trump administration has not announced a nominee to be the FNCS undersecretary. Three USDA nominations are currently awaiting Senate confirmation: Scott Hutchins to be undersecretary for research, education, and economics, Mindy Brashears to be USDA’s food safety undersecretary, and Naomi Earp to be the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights. All three nominees are currently working at the department in deputy positions, which don't require Senate confirmation.
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