Politico reports:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent weeks lobbying Donald Trump to nominate an Agriculture secretary who would be his ally in a war with the sugar, soybean, corn and other farm commodity interests he argues are poisoning Americans.

Working largely from his home in California, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services even meticulously vetted and put forward his own list of candidates to run the massive agency responsible for the country’s farm and food policy, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

But Trump went a different direction. Instead, the president-elect made a wild-card pick — a former White House aide with little formal experience in agriculture policy and no record on the public health concerns driving Kennedy’s agenda.

Trump’s choice of Brooke Rollins, who co-founded the Trump-aligned think tank America First Policy Institute, to lead the Agriculture Department represents something of a victory for the entrenched agriculture interests that view Kennedy as a foe. And it shows the potential limits of Kennedy’s power to pursue his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda in a Trump administration attuned to the concerns of industry.

“Brooke Rollins is a savvy operator, and she’s not going to serve as anyone’s lackey,” said one farm state GOP lawmaker. They and more than a dozen other individuals interviewed for this story were granted anonymity to candidly discuss transition decision-making. “RFK may have broad discretion at HHS, but I have every expectation that Secretary Rollins will be the one actually calling the shots at USDA. That’s going to give America’s farmers and ranchers a certain amount of comfort.”

Kennedy and his advisers were certainly hoping for a more vocal ally in the job. As the search for a nominee intensified, he personally lobbied Trump on the matter, while making clear to transition officials that he expected the eventual Agriculture secretary to work closely with him to overhaul U.S. food and agriculture policy, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Among Kennedy’s preferred candidates for the job: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who like Kennedy, has advocated for slashing federal farm subsidy programs, which Republicans in farm districts have carefully guarded over the years arguing they protect vulnerable farmers and help produce enough food to feed the country. Kennedy also advocated for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in the final hours before Trump made his pick.

But powerful, conservative-leaning agriculture groups, many of which have long-established ties to Trump, warned the president-elect’s team to keep Kennedy and candidates like Massie and Miller away from USDA. Such picks would alienate large swaths of the industry, which reliably supports Republicans. [Continue reading…]