Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is on Capitol Hill this week and reassured at least one key senator that he has an appreciation for conventional U.S. agriculture.
On Tuesday, Kennedy met with Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who sits on both the Senate Agriculture and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees. HELP is one of the panels with jurisdiction over HHS.
Ahead of the meeting, Marshall told Agri-Pulse he wanted to discuss some of Kennedy's previous comments about the food and agriculture industry, particularly restricting pesticide use. Kennedy also has long attacked concentrated animal feeding operations.
Following his conversation with Kennedy on Tuesday, Marshall said he received the necessary assurances from Kennedy on agriculture, and believes the two share the same goals.
Talking to reporters in his office directly after the meeting, with two of Kennedy's books out on a table, Marshall said he learned Kennedy "has a huge affinity for American agriculture." He said the HHS nominee was a 4H member and spent time working on farms.
"He even understood what no-till farming was, which was great," Marshall said. "I was afraid I was gonna have to explain to him what no-till farming is."
While Marshall said the two did not dive into any issues at length, he said Kennedy has "a great love and compassion" for agriculture, and understands how important the industry is in providing affordable, healthy foods.
"I think that American agriculture is going to be relieved when I hear from his own words to talk about this," Marshall said. "He knows that American farmers are growing more with less, and he also knows that 90% of rural America voted for President Trump."
Marshall added that he plans to talk with Republican colleagues on the Agriculture Committee about his conversation.
Another senator on both the HELP and Ag committees, Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville, praised Kennedy in a post on X after their visit.
“Our meeting reaffirmed what I already knew: RFK Jr. is the right man to make sure our food is safe, bring transparency to vaccines and health care, and Make America Healthy Again,” Tuberville said.
While they are not on the list for Hill visits this week, Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark., and Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and John Hoeven, R-N.D., have indicated they wish to meet with the nominee to discuss food and agriculture.
