Soybean, rice execs praise Vaden for Ag deputy secretary

American Soybean Association CEO Stephen Censky and USA Rice President and CEO Peter Bachmann today praised President-elect Trump’s announcement that he has selected Stephen Vaden as agriculture deputy secretary. 

Vaden served as Agriculture Department general counsel in the first Trump administration before Trump appointed him a judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade, which is located in New York City.

As deputy, Vaden would serve under Brooke Rollins, Trump’s choice as agriculture secretary.

Both the agriculture secretary and the deputy secretary require Senate confirmation. 

Censky was USDA deputy secretary in the Trump administration. Bachmann was a senior adviser to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Censky said in a news release, “I had the great pleasure of working with Stephen during the last Trump administration.”

“He is one of the smartest people I know, knows well the many services USDA provides, and has a key understanding of White House and other processes. I have no doubt that American agriculture will be very well served by Stephen when confirmed.” 

Censky continued, “Vaden comes from a farm family, sharing the significance of being a farmer to his father — and tenets he thus developed for his own career — during 2017 testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee in his confirmation hearing: ‘Throughout his life, [my father] also was a grocer, an investor and a real estate developer.'”

“But it was the title of farmer of which he was most proud. I know this because he placed that title — ‘Farmer’ — below his name on every check I ever saw him sign.

“The last three checks he ever signed hang on my wall, framed, as a reminder of the responsibilities I bear as principal deputy general counsel to ensure that America’s producers are treated fairly, equitably and in accordance with the law.”

Bachmann said on Linked In, “I am happy to see my friend and fellow USDA alum Stephen Vaden picked to be our next deputy secretary of agriculture.”

“His background in agriculture, law, and trade will nicely compliment future Secretary Brooke Rollins and his views closely align with President Trump’s. His time as OGC at USDA meant he literally touched every regulation and was, at a minimum, marginally involved in every policy move and should be able to hit the ground running. I’m looking forward to working closely as USA Rice with Stephen in his new role once confirmed next year.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said “I am pleased to nominate Stephen Alexander Vaden to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, where he will work with our Great United States Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins.”

“In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform.

“Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade. Judge Stephen Vaden resides in Union City, Tennessee, where he helps manage his family farm. Congratulations Stephen!”

Rollins, in a social media post, said, “Judge Vaden’s resume speaks for itself: Yale Law, former GC of USDA, and now a Judge on the Court of International Trade — a lifelong appointment he now gives up to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of USDA.”

“But more important than any accomplishment on his extensive resume is his deep understanding that American greatness is a direct function of American agriculture — and, as Lincoln said, USDA is ‘The People’s Department” and ought to be run as such.

“I look forward to building the best team in the Department’s history alongside Stephen and delivering every day for our American farmers #mAGa.”

As The Hagstrom Report noted at the time, Vaden’s nomination as USDA general counsel was controversial.

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved his nomination, but by a vote of 14 to 7 held on Dec. 11, 2017.

Then-Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana joined all Republican committee members to vote in favor of the nomination.

Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made a rare appearance at a Senate Ag meeting to vote for Vaden at the business meeting, which was held in the President’s Room off the Senate floor.

But Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania voted against forwarding the nomination to the Senate.

Stabenow said she was voting to move the nomination forward because USDA needs a full staff as development of the next farm bill begins, but that she said “this was not an easy decision for me” because “I am concerned” about legal work that Vaden performed in the private sector and personnel practices at USDA, where Vaden has been working in the general counsel’s office since shortly after Trump took office.

While in private practice, Vaden represented conservative groups on voting rights issues. The union representing USDA’s legal professionals has publicly opposed his nomination.

“Stephen Vaden has been the de facto head of the Office of General Counsel since January when he arrived as a beachhead official,” the union said in a Nov. 9 news release. “One of his first official acts was to terminate the labor contract between the office and its staff of 250 lawyers and legal professionals nationwide, who are represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 1106.”

“We respectfully seek a collaborative work environment and true partnership with the agency that facilitates stellar service to our client agencies and, most importantly, to the American public,” Local 1106 President Matt Tilden said.

Stabenow said she has received information about wider reassignment of career employees who have been considered too close to the Obama administration.

She said Vaden is believed to be in charge of these reassignments, but that she needs to find out if this direction is coming “from the top,” meaning either Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue or the White House. Stabenow said she would write Perdue a letter asking for answers to her questions about the personnel practices.

Stabenow said she has been told that some career officials have been reassigned outside Washington and outside their areas of expertise.

“We can’t afford a brain drain” or the loss of expertise as the farm bill moves forward,” Stabenow said.

Vaden later told Senate Agriculture Committee Democrats that he had provided only limited legal advice on the reassignment of USDA employees and that the changes were made due to organizational needs.

At the Court of International Trade, Vaden also handed down a decision affecting fertilizer imports, Progressive Farmer/DTN noted.