Ag Sec switches title to get food safety leader in place

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue named three candidates to leadership positions held up by lack of Senate approval by shifting their titles to those that do not require Senate confirmation, including naming Dr. Mindy Brashears to lead the agency’s food safety efforts. Perdue named Brashears as deputy under secretary for food safety, along with two other unconfirmed appointees --  Naomi Earp as deputy assistant secretary for civil rights, and Dr. Scott Hutchins as deputy under secretary for research, education, and economics, in a statement that pointed said, “These positions do not require Senate confirmation.”All three had been confirmed by the Senate Agriculture Committee to more senior roles, but their nominations expired without receiving confirmation votes by the end of the 115th Congress in early January.  The President has resubmitted their nominations to the Senate in the 116th Congress.Brashears was re-nominated for under secretary for food safety; Earp for assistant secretary for civil rights and Hutchins for under secretary for research, education, and economics.