Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins Asked About Signal Chat Leak, USDA Cuts

Forbes Breaking News

Earlier today, Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins spoke to reporters outside the White House.

Transcript

00:00Well, first and foremost, I'm the Secretary of Agriculture.

00:27These are not my lane.

00:28I'm going to be very careful not to weave into any lanes that are not mine, but I will

00:32say this.

00:33President Trump has utmost confidence in my colleagues in the Cabinet.

00:38I think that the pace at which we are winning on issues that the people of America voted

00:44on is absolutely unprecedented.

00:48There is no doubt that my friends, my colleagues, my family that are part of this Cabinet are

00:53the best, most patriotic, most impressive Americans I've ever been around and I'm so

00:58proud of them.

00:59And who just said that?

01:09I'm sorry.

01:10Oh, Secretary Kennedy.

01:12So here's what's important for all of us to realize across the government.

01:18And I think the Cabinet that President Trump has put together is truly unprecedented.

01:22And I've said this multiple times and that we're no longer working in our silos.

01:26We are working together on behalf and for all Americans.

01:30And so the question of vaccines and whether we're talking about vaccines in the poultry

01:34industry, vaccines across the agriculture industry, that at the end of the day, we have

01:39to think about more than just what those vaccines or therapeutics or what the research is showing,

01:45how that solves for a certain problem within that limited segment.

01:49So Secretary Kennedy's approach, and I agree with it, is we've got to think about this

01:53in an all-encompassing approach with the NIH, with the CDC, with the USDA, with Health and

02:00Human Services.

02:01So as we are moving forward, we move forward together.

02:04So as we are investing resources into figuring out how to solve this avian bird flu, which

02:09has been absolutely a disaster for our poultry industry, our egg layers especially, but we

02:15can't just make the decision on what that looks like just us over at the USDA building.

02:19We will work together.

02:21I am encouraged at the research that is happening from the private sector and in looking at

02:25the right way to move forward.

02:28I'll take one more.

02:29Thanks a lot.

02:30Probationary employers, employees that got hired, they got a letter or an email that

02:31said, based on your performance, you have not demonstrated that you have further employment

02:32and the agency would be in the public interest.

02:33Is that really why they were hired?

02:34What does that mean?

02:35So the approach of DOJ, and we just had a cabinet meeting, which is the Department of

02:36which a lot of you joined us towards the end on Monday, and the most important bottom

02:51line is that the entire cabinet is aligned, is supportive, and understands the president's

02:56vision that is being effectuated by Elon Musk and in partnership with all of the agencies.

03:01Of course, USDA, one of the largest agencies with over 100,000 employees, you've all heard

03:07me talk about some of the contracts that have been canceled, some of the reductions in force

03:11that we're doing.

03:12We will never stop working for the American people, the American farmers and ranchers,

03:16and ensuring that what we're doing is in their best interest.

03:21So as we continue forward, we map those plans out.

03:24This will perhaps only be a couple more months, two, three, four months, while we're looking

03:28at what that realignment and reduction in force looks like.

03:32And then we begin the rebuild.

03:33Listen, the final thing I'll say is that as the reducing in force is happening, one thing

03:37that I think is really important that the media has not reported on as much is the trillion

03:42dollars in new jobs and manufacturing that's now being onshored under this president in

03:47the last two months.

03:48The private sector is about to explode with new jobs and new opportunities in those areas.

03:54And so the opportunity for those who did work for government to now perhaps move into more

03:59productive opportunities for themselves, for their families, for their jobs, and for

04:04this country, I believe will be unprecedented.

04:07Thank y'all so much.

04:08Thank y'all.

04:09I'm so grateful.

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