Midwest

400-plus farmers and growers groups urge Senate to confirm Trump's USDA pick

Published

1 year ago

January 20, 2025

400-plus farmers and growers groups urge Senate to confirm Trump's USDA pick

FIRST ON FOX — A coalition of more than 400 U.S. farm, agriculture and growers groups sent a letter to Senate leaders this week urging the swift confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump nominee Brooke Rollins to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), praising her as a strong voice they see as well-positioned to speak to the interests of rural America.

The signatories included a whopping 417 national and state growers groups representing the interests of farmers, growers, hunters, ranchers, forest owners, renewable fuel associations and state departments of agriculture across the country — encompassing what they said is virtually “all aspects of American agriculture, food, nutrition and rural America.”

The USDA is the agency that oversees the nation’s agriculture and its practices. Its sprawling portfolio includes providing support for farmers, setting the standards for school meals and overseeing the safety of meat, poultry and eggs.

The letter was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital and sent to Sens. John Boozman, R-La., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. — the chair and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, respectively — just one week before Rollins was slated to appear before the panel for her confirmation hearing.

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Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, “has been engaged in American agriculture since an early age.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In the letter, signatories praised what they described as Rollins’ foundational knowledge of agriculture, combined with her policy and business bona fides that they said made her uniquely qualified for the role of U.S. agriculture secretary.

Rollins “has been engaged in American agriculture since an early age,” they said, noting Rollins’ childhood spent baling hay and growing livestock in Glen Rose, Texas — a small town some 70 miles outside of Dallas — as well as the summers she spent working on her family’s farm in Minnesota.

Later, Rollins majored in agricultural development at Texas A&M on a scholarship, before completing law school at the University of Texas. She went on to work for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and then later served as director of the United States Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term as president. She then became president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, whose mission is to “advance policies that put the American people first.”

The nonprofit think tank has called on Congress to restrict China’s access to American farmland and has been critical of President Biden’s energy policies.

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In the letter, the groups said Rollins’ agriculture and farming bona fides, policy expertise and her business experience make her uniquely prepared to “provide effective executive leadership for USDA’s important, wide-ranging activities and large workforce.”

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The timing of the letter comes at a crucial time for U.S. growers groups and agribusinesses across the country. (NWS Gray/Twitter)

The timing of the letter and Rollins’ pending confirmation hearing, slated for Thursday, comes at a crucial time for U.S. growers groups and agribusinesses across the country.

It comes as lawmakers have stalled on a new farm bill, and on other key priorities for farmers and industry groups across the country.

The 11th-hour passage of a government spending bill in late December helped narrowly avert a government shutdown, but it failed to provide the full extent of farm aid and other agriculture subsidies in the amounts considered necessary for many in the U.S.

In the letter, the groups cited Rollins’ “close working relationship” with the incoming president, which they said will “ensure that agriculture and rural America have a prominent and influential voice at the table when critical decisions are made in the White House.”

United States Department of Agriculture Jamie L. Whitten federal building entrance sign.

In sum, the letter said, Rollins’ leadership at USDA is necessary to help “advocate for a new farm bill, stabilize an agricultural economy in decline, support the full food and agriculture and forestry value chain, and continue American agriculture’s long history of providing the most secure, affordable and nutritious food supply in the world.”

Rollins is not expected to face staunch opposition to her nomination to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and lawmakers who have spoken out to date have praised both her experience and strong knowledge of the agriculture sector.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.

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Indiana

Watch Indiana basketball’s Lamar Wilkerson give his mom a Cadillac

Published

3 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Watch Indiana basketball’s Lamar Wilkerson give his mom a Cadillac

Indiana basketball sharpshooter Lamar Wilkerson is known for his generosity.

Upon joining the Hoosiers, he gave a tidy sum of his NIL earnings to his previous program, Sam Houston State.

“I was blessed to be able go from that, from not having a lot, to being here, having a lot more than I even knew what to do with,” Wilkerson said at the time. “I just thought, I can give them this.”

He upped the ante on IU’s Senior Night, giving his mother a Cadillac after the Hoosiers throttled Minnesota.

You could imagine her reaction.

Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.

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Iowa

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Published

9 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Iowans who commit multiple serious crimes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a “three strikes” bill passed by House lawmakers.
Republicans said the bill would keep Iowans safe and “prioritize victims and public safety over criminals.”
A nonpartisan state agency says the bill would disproportionately impact Black Iowans and could require the state to spend millions to build a new prison.

Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.

House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.

Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.

“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”

Here’s what to know about the bill.

What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?

Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.

That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.

All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.

Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.

Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.

And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.

If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.

Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.

Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.

“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”

Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.

“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”

Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says

A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.

FY 2027: $33 million
FY 2028: $66 million
FY 2029: $99 million
FY 2030: $132 million
FY 2031: $164.9 million

The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.

“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”

The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.

As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.

The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.

But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.

“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”

Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”

“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”

Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law

The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”

Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.

Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.

It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.

“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”

Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”

“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.

Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”

And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”

“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”

House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.

That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.

Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings

Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.

The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:

The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket

The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.

The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.

And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.

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