Trade, Not Staffing, Takes Spotlight in USDA Deputy Confirmation Hearing

April 9, 2025 – During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing to consider Stephen Vaden for the number-two position at the USDA today, senators focused on trade and other issues important in their districts, while largely ignoring ongoing staff layoffs and funding freezes.

Vaden, who served as the top lawyer for the USDA during Trump’s first term and is currently a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade, is being considered for the role of deputy secretary, reporting to the Secretary of Agriculture, and tasked with running daily operations.

Previously, Vaden provided the legal justification for the agency’s controversial decision to move the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Research Service out of Washington, D.C. to Kansas City, Missouri. At the start of the hearing, Chairman John Boozman (R-Arkansas) referenced that experience and asked whether Vaden anticipates “any future reorganizations that might be necessary to maximize the efficiency of the department?”

Vaden skipped answering that question and instead emphasized his commitment to communicating with the committee. Since Trump took office, the USDA has laid off thousands of employees and recently offered another opportunity for staff to resign. Other outlets have reported that more significant layoffs and reorganizations are coming “within weeks.” During that last stint at the USDA, Politico reported that Vaden’s leadership led to plummeting morale.

When ranking member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) asked Vaden about a list of 15 programs the USDA provided that have been affected by the agency’s funding freeze, he also emphasized communication. “We’ll get you the information that you need.”

For most of the hearing, though, senators on both sides of the aisle brought up how tariffs might impact farmers and how to tackle trade deficits. Vaden pointed to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’ six trade missions planned so far and said the agency should also tackle “phony” health and sanitary concerns that countries use to keep American products out. China recently stopped imports of some American chicken, for example, because they said the meat contained a banned antibiotic.