Donald Trump has nominated his longtime ally Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, completing his Cabinet list.
He made the announcement late Saturday afternoon, tapping the head of the Maga-backed think tank, the America First Policy Institute, for the job.
“As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will lead efforts to protect America’s farmers, who are truly the backbone of our country,” Trump said in a statement.
Her appointment marks the end of a whirlwind – and sometimes dramatic – wave of nominations for leading executive agencies.
Rollins has been a key ally of Trump for years, as co-founder and chairman of the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing, pro-Trump think tank.
A former White House aide during the president-elect’s first administration, she served as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Rollins had grown up on a farm and was involved early on with Future Farmers of America, in addition to 4H, a national agricultural club.
She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural development and later worked as an attorney.
If confirmed by the Senate, she would oversee farm subsidies, federal nutrition programs, meat inspections and other facets of the nation’s agriculture, food and forestry industries.
She would also play a key role in renegotiating the US-Canada-Mexico trade deal, which could include imposing Trump’s promised tariffs.
Rollins’ nomination marks the end of Trump’s picks for his cabinet — a group of 15 advisers who each head a bureaucratic department within the U.S. government.
Any nominee will have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Trump has chosen an eclectic range of Cabinet picks, from Maga loyalists to former political rivals.
Some of his nominations – such as Robert Kennedy Jr. for Department of Health and Human Services and Matt Gaetz for Attorney General – have raised eyebrows.
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and vaccine skeptic who ran as an independent against Trump before withdrawing and endorsing him, would take charge of the Food and Drug Administration.
Gaetz, a bombastic former Florida congressman who led the impeachment of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, withdrew his nomination and resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, solicitation of sex and illegal drug use.
Media reported that senators made it clear that it would be difficult to confirm Gaetz for the job. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing but said he withdrew because he became a “distraction.”
Trump wasted no time and instead quickly nominated Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, to the post.
Another pick, Pete Hegseth, is also embroiled in a scandal after a police report revealed new details about an alleged sexual assault the former Fox news host had with a woman in 2017.
Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and claims the meeting was consensual. He was never arrested or charged.
Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon – the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment – has also been criticized for her lack of experience in education.