The Cabinet of the United States is the principal official advisory body to the president of the United States. The Cabinet generally meets with the president in a room adjacent to the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House. The president chairs the meetings but is not formally a member of the Cabinet. The vice president of the United States serves in the Cabinet by statute. The heads of departments, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are members of the Cabinet, and acting department heads also participate in Cabinet meetings whether or not they have been officially nominated for Senate confirmation. Members of the Cabinet are political appointees and administratively function their departments. As appointed officers heading federal agencies, these Cabinet Secretaries are bureaucrats with full administrative control over their respective departments. The president may designate heads of other agencies and non-Senate-confirmed members of the Executive Office of the President as members of the Cabinet.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally. It is headed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current secretary is Gary Washington, who has served in an acting capacity since January 20, 2025.
The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. It is an operating unit of the USDA Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was created in 1935 as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal agency promoting rural electrification.
Ellis James Abdnor was an American politician who served as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota. He was also the 15th Administrator of the Small Business Administration under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
The Economic Research Service (ERS) is a component of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States. It provides information and research on agriculture and economics.
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) overseas programs – market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information. It also administers the USDA's export credit guarantee and food aid programs and helps increase income and food availability in developing nations by mobilizing expertise for agriculturally led economic growth. The FAS mission statement reads, "Linking U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security," and its motto is "Linking U.S. Agriculture to the World."
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service is one of three agencies within USDA Rural Development responsible for administering various economic development programs to rural communities in the United States and its territories. Because these three agencies are closely aligned, they are commonly referred to as the USDA Rural Development, Business & Cooperative Programs.
Jonathan Steven Adelstein is an American political appointee and trade association president. He was nominated to posts by Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama, serving as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Administrator of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service.
The Under Secretary for Food Safety is a subcabinet position within the United States Department of Agriculture responsible for oversight of the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Under Secretary chairs the U.S. Codex Steering Committee, which provides guidance to U.S. delegations to the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Food Safety and Inspection Service is responsible for ensuring the nation's supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe and correctly labeled and packaged.
USDA Rural Development(RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States.
Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services was the third-ranking official in the United States Department of Agriculture prior to reorganization of several mission areas, announced on May 11, 2017. The mission area of USDA's purpose was to "help to keep America's farmers and ranchers in business as they face the uncertainties of weather and markets..." and that "...deliver[s] commodity, credit, conservation, disaster, and emergency assistance programs that help improve the stability and strength of the agricultural economy." The Under Secretary was traditionally appointed to serve as the President of the Commodity Credit Corporation.
The Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics is a high-ranking official within the United States Department of Agriculture that provides leadership and oversight for the Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Library, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Rural Cooperatives was a bimonthly trade journal for rural cooperatives in the United States. It was published by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Business-Cooperative Service in Washington, D.C., and focused on rural agricultural cooperatives. The magazine was published between April 1934 and January 2018.
The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 is an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015 that would provide funding for the United States Department of Agriculture and related agencies. The bill would appropriate $20.9 billion.
Basil Ivanhoe Gooden is an American governmental executive whose career has advanced equitable food systems, agriculture policy, public health, and community economic development in rural America. Gooden served as the 3rd Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the cabinet of Governor Terry McAuliffe. He became the first Black American to serve in this position and during his tenure from September 2016 until January 2018, he was the only Black American Secretary of Agriculture in any state in the United States. In his capacity as Secretary, he provided strategic vision and leadership to two of Virginia's largest private industries, Agriculture and Forestry, with an annual economic impact of $91 billion on the Commonwealth.
Xochitl Liana Torres Small is an American attorney and politician who was the 15th United States deputy secretary of agriculture from 2023 to 2025, acting as "chief operating officer" for the department. She was nominated by President Joe Biden in February 2023, and was confirmed by the senate on July 11.
Joel C. Baxley is an American businessman and former government official who most recently served as the Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development.
