Brooke Rollins ‘94 was confirmed as the 33rd secretary of agriculture in a 72-28 Senate vote on Feb. 13, becoming the first Aggie to hold the cabinet role. In her new position, the 52-year-old heads the agriculture department and its nearly 100,000 employees.

From 1994-5, agriculture development major Rollins was Texas A&M’s first female student body president and was a key speaker at Muster in 2007. 

Rollins is a conservative lawyer who served as chief for domestic policy during President Donald Trump’s first administration. Rollins has acknowledged that his proposed rates of deportation could have a drastic impact on labor. With this in mind, she has pledged to support the plans while aiming to look out for farmers.

“The president’s vision of a secure border and a mass deportation at a scale that matters is something I support,” Rollins said in a press release.

In addition, the secretary of agriculture plans to modernize the Department of Agriculture and allocate $10 billion to aid the country’s struggling agricultural economy.

“First, we must ensure that the disaster and economic assistance authorized by Congress is deployed as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” she said in a press release.

Rollins also hopes to decrease rates of raging animal diseases such as bird flu, lower the number of federal workers working remotely and expand the agricultural trade market. 

“We understand that serving all American agriculture and all the American people means ensuring that our rural communities are equipped and supported to prosper,” Rollins said in a press release. “Not just today, but tomorrow and the day after that in the many tomorrows to come.”