Brooke Rollins | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2025 | |
33rd United States Secretary of Agriculture | |
Assumed office February 13, 2025 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Deputy | Stephen Vaden |
Preceded by | Tom Vilsack |
Director of the Domestic Policy Council | |
Acting May 24,2020 –January 20,2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Joe Grogan |
Director of the Office of American Innovation and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives | |
In office February 16,2018 –May 24,2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Jared Kushner |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
President of the Texas Public Policy Foundation | |
In office January 1,2003 –February 16,2018 | |
Preceded by | Jeff Judson |
Succeeded by | Kevin Roberts |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Glen Rose,Texas,U.S. | April 10,1972
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Mark Rollins |
Children | 4 |
Parent | Helen Kerwin (mother) |
Education | Texas A&M University (BS) University of Texas at Austin (JD) |
Brooke Leslie Rollins (born April 10,1972) [2] is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 33rd United States secretary of agriculture since February 2025.
Rollins previously served as deputy general counsel,ethics advisor,and policy director to Texas governor Rick Perry. From 2003 to 2018,Rollins led the Texas Public Policy Foundation,an Austin-based conservative think tank.
Rollins was director of the Office of American Innovation [3] [4] from 2018 until 2020 and the acting director of the United States Domestic Policy Council during Donald Trump's first presidency. In between President Donald Trump's first and second administrations,Rollins co-founded the America First Policy Institute,a conservative think tank that helped plan the policy agenda for a second Trump administration. [5] [6]
On November 23,2024,President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rollins to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. [7] On February 13,2025,the U.S. Senate confirmed Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by a 72–28 vote. [8]
Rollins's mother Helen Kerwin is a member of the Texas House of Representatives,a position to which she was elected in 2024. [9]
Rollins was raised on a farm in Glen Rose,Texas. She graduated Texas A&M University with a B.S. in agricultural development in 1994. [10] While at Texas A&M,Rollins was the first woman to be elected student body president. She also served as the speaker pro tempore of the Student Senate,the chair of the Texas A&M Judicial Court,as a Fish Camp counselor,and was Cotton Bowl Classic Queen. [11] In 2007,Rollins became the first female speaker at the College Station Aggie Muster,which honors deceased Texas A&M former students. [11]
Rollins earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law,graduating with honors. [12] After graduating from law school,Rollins worked for several years at Hughes &Luce,LLP in Dallas and clerked under U.S. Federal District Court judge Barbara M. Lynn. Rollins previously served as deputy general counsel,ethics advisor,and policy director to Texas governor Rick Perry. [11]
Rollins was the president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation,an Austin-based conservative think tank,from 2003 through 2018. [13] During her tenure at TPPF,the think tank grew from having a staff of three to a staff of 100. [14] In 2011, Texas Monthly named Rollins one of the 25 most powerful Texans. [15] During her time at the foundation,it advocated for the end of agriculture subsidies for farmers and opposed ethanol requirements for fuels. [16]
In February 2018,it was reported that Rollins would replace Reed Cordish,who served as an assistant for intergovernmental and technology initiatives,within the Office of American Innovation. [17] She subsequently joined the administration as the director of the Office of American Innovation and on September 6,2018,also became the assistant to the president for strategic initiatives. [18]
Rollins was influential in encouraging the passage of the First Step Act,legislation that reforms the nation's prison system and seeks to reduce recidivism. The First Step Act was signed into law by President Trump in December 2018. [19]
In May 2020,President Trump named Rollins acting director of the United States Domestic Policy Council. [20] [21] [22]
In her first public interview as acting director of the Domestic Policy Council,Rollins said she was focused on finding bipartisan solutions to address the murder of George Floyd. She said the White House was "working through a list of solutions and possibilities" and that she wanted to make the issue "a unifying force for this country". [23] According to Politico ,the order was crafted "in consultation with police officers,mayors,conservative African Americans,faith-based leaders and the families of victims." [24]
In December 2020,Rollins and Larry Kudlow began forming a new nonprofit organization focused on continuing to promote Trump's public policies. [25]
Rollins was the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute,founded in 2021 to plan and promote Trump's public policy agenda,as well as file election lawsuits in battleground states. [26] [6] The organization was staffed with multiple current and former Trump administration officials,including Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. [6]
Rollins served as a leader of the Save America Coalition,launched in 2021 to oppose Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion economic proposal. [27]
On November 23,2024,President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rollins to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. [28] Rollins is the second woman to hold the position after Ann Veneman. [29] She appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture on January 23,2025. [30] Her nomination was supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation,American Forest &Paper Association,Association of Equipment Manufacturers,International Fresh Produce Association,U.S. Seafood Policy Council,National Cattlemen's Beef Association,National Mining Association,Independent Women's Forum,and Fertilizer Institute. [31]
The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced Rollins' nomination in a unanimous vote on February 3,2025. [32] On February 13,2025,the United States Senate confirmed Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by a 72–28 vote. [33]
On February 13,2025,Rollins was sworn into office as the 33rd Secretary of Agriculture by U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. [34] [35]
Rollins has opposed the California farm animal welfare law Proposition 12,which prohibits the sale of food products raised in intensive battery cages,gestation crates,and veal crates,and supported efforts to overturn it on a federal level. In her confirmation hearing in January 2025,Rollins told Senator Joni Ernst that she would work with Congress on legislation to preempt certain state animal welfare laws. [36] At a House Appropriations Committee hearing in May 2025,she called Proposition 12 "not sustainable." [37] [38] In July 2025,Rollins stated that she supports a federal lawsuit against California aimed at overturning Proposition 12,Proposition 2,and related regulations on the conditions of laying hens. [39]
On June 23,2025,Rollins announced an end to the "roadless rule" that was put into place by President Bill Clinton just before he left office in 2001. The rule had prevented any road construction on 58 million acres of national forest land. Rollins explained "President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule." [40]
Rollins has four children with her husband. [41]
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