Several of President-elect Donald Trump’s top selections for his cabinet get confirmation hearings this week, including former Rep. Lee Zeldin, picked to head the EPA, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, selected for the dual role of Interior secretary and White House energy czar.
Other cabinet picks who will get hearings this week ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration include Scott Bessent, named to be treasury secretary; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, picked to head the Homeland Security Department, which will carry out Trump’s pledge for mass deportations; and Pam Bondi, Trump’s selection for attorney general.
The Senate Agriculture Committee had expected to have a hearing Wednesday for Trump's selection for agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, but the meeting is likely delayed because of paperwork delays.
Also this week, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and plaintiffs – who won their case against a 2020 biotech rule that eased regulatory requirements for traits produced through genetic engineering – file a joint statement in court.
The statement, according to U.S. District Judge James Donato’s Dec. 2 ruling, must address “what effect, if any, this order will have on the [Nov. 13] rule identifying additional GE organisms qualified for [regulatory] exemption.” Donato vacated APHIS’s 2020 SECURE rule.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration will likely be using its final days to release new regulatory actions. The pending matters include a waiver that California needs from EPA to enforce new climate standards that would require railroads to switch to zero-emission locomotives.
FDA also could release a proposed rule to require front-of-pack nutrition labeling for food and beverages. The White House Office of Management and Budget finished its review of the rule on Friday.
Zeldin, who will appear before the Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday, had a record in Congress of fighting ethanol usage mandates and is almost certain to get questioned about how he would implement the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Zeldin also would be under pressure as EPA administrator to address a range of issues involving pesticide regulation, and he would face the perennial issue of defining the “waters of the United States,” the streams and wetlands regulated by the Clean Water Act.
As interior secretary, Burgum would inherit challenges addressing western water issues, including management of the Colorado River. The new administration will also need to weigh whether to continue ongoing litigation over a Biden administration rule allowing conservation leases on Bureau of Land Management lands, which has drawn criticism from rancher and mining groups.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will question Burgum on Tuesday.
Tax and trade policy are likely to be featured at Bessent’s hearing. In a notice announcing the hearing, committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, noted the hedge fund manager’s future role in extending the president’s 2017 tax cuts and implementing “pro-growth” tax policies.
The hearing could also feature tariff discussions, after Bessent praised the “power of tariffs” in a November Fox News op-ed following criticism among Trump backers that the prospective nominee’s support for tariffs was not sufficiently ardent.
Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., indicated that he talked to Bessent about the Treasury Department’s implementation of the new 45Z tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and other biofuels. On Friday, the department proposed initial guidance for 45Z that would limit the use of imported cooking oil. But the guidance didn’t address key eligibility requirements for agriculture-based feedstocks.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said Friday there is concern that Trump could seek to kill the 45Z credit. She said that during talks with House leadership, the Iowa delegation has made it clear that some IRA credits like 45Z should be continued, and touching those in reconciliation could be a “red line.”
“We want the IRA energy tax credits to be looked at selectively,” Miller-Meeks said.
Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EST):
Monday, Jan. 13
9:30 a.m. – International Food Policy Research Institute webinar, “Trade disruptions and their impacts on agricultural markets: Looking back and ahead.”
Tuesday, Jan. 14
10 a.m. – House Ways and Means Committee hearing on provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 1100 Longworth.
10 a.m. – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be interior secretary, 366 Dirksen.
Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, LA, Jan 14-16.
Wednesday, Jan. 15
9 a.m. – Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be secretary of homeland security, 342 Dirksen.
9 a.m. – Peterson Institute for International Economics webinar, “EU-Mercosur trade agreement: A long night's journey into day?”
9:30 a.m. – Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Pam Bondi to be attorney general, 216 Dirksen.
10 a.m. – House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, “America Builds: The State of the Nation’s Transportation System,” 2167 Rayburn.
10 a.m. – Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to be secretary of state, 419 Dirksen.
Thursday, Jan. 16
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing for Lee Zeldin to be EPA administrator, 406 Dirksen.
10:30 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee hearing for Scott Bessent to be treasury secretary, 215 Dirksen.
Friday, Jan. 17
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