Tom Vilsack
FILE - In this May 5, 2020, file photo, Elizabeth Ruiz, 7, puts up post-it notes on her mother's car window that spell out "God Bless U" as she and her mother Daylin Lemus, of Adelphi, Md., wait in a line of hundreds of cars to receive a Catholic Charities distribution of food at Northwestern High School, in Hyattsville, Md. The Department of Agriculture is sending $1 billion to the country’s food bank networks, seeking to expand the reach of the system and revamp the way food banks acquire and distribute aid. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
USDA sending $1B in funding to country's food bank networks

By Ashraf Khalil Jun. 04, 2021 05:26 PM EDT

FILE - In this April 28, 2021, file photo, a firefighter prepares to battle the North Fire from a backyard on Via Patina, in Santa Clarita, Calif. U.S. officials say they'll try to stamp out wildfires as quickly as possible this year as severe drought tightens its grip across the West. (Emily Alvarenga/The Santa Clarita Valley Signal via AP, File)
Fire officials aim to douse blazes fast, avoid megafires

By Matthew Brown May. 13, 2021 12:03 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: Nebraska

By The Associated Press May. 10, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Omaha World-Herald. May 6, 2021. Editorial: Biden administration must reach out to ag producers on 30x30 plan Climate...

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, file photo, kids eat lunch at an elementary school in Paducah, Ky. The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed as many as 34 million school children during the summer months. They're using funds from the coronavirus relief package approved in March 2021. (Ellen O'Nan/The Paducah Sun via AP, File)
Biden expanding summer food program for 34M schoolchildren

By Josh Boak Apr. 26, 2021 06:15 AM EDT

Funeral workers remove empty coffins that held remains that were later cremated at La Recoleta cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The Latest: Hawaii eases virus rules for inter-island travel

By The Associated Press Apr. 20, 2021 06:03 AM EDT

Michelle Book, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Iowa gives Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and U.S. Representative Cindy Axne (D-IA) a tour of the Des Moines facility Monday, March 22, 2021. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP)
Vice president's husband discusses hunger at Iowa Food Bank

By David Pitt Mar. 22, 2021 04:26 PM EDT

Adrian Polansky, a farmer and former executive director of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency office in Kansas during the Obama administration, stops for a photo while touring his seed processing plant near Belleville, Kan., Friday, March 5, 2021. More than a year after two U.S. Department of Agriculture research agencies were moved from the nation’s capital to Kansas City, they remain critically understaffed and some farmers are less confident in the work they produce. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
USDA relocations curtail ag research, farmer confidence

By Roxana Hegeman Mar. 06, 2021 10:12 AM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2021 file photo, Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), testifies during a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she'll vote against confirming President Joe Biden’s nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget. Collins' announcement Monday throws Tanden's confirmation further into doubt. On Friday, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the first Democratic lawmaker to oppose Tanden’s confirmation. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
A look at how Biden's Cabinet nominees fared Tuesday

By Ashraf Khalil Feb. 23, 2021 05:50 PM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who the Biden administration chose to reprise that role, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Vilsack confirmed for 2nd stint as US agriculture secretary

By Ashraf Khalil Feb. 23, 2021 05:46 PM EST

UMass returning to in-person classes after surge eases

Feb. 21, 2021 12:35 PM EST
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — The University of Massachusetts is planning to return to in-person classes Monday after a previous surge in COVID-19 cases led the school...

Delegation: Vendor not meeting needs of hungry Vermonters

Feb. 17, 2021 12:10 PM EST
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont's congressional delegation says the New Jersey vendor picked for the latest round of a federal food distribution program in...

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, Rod Bradshaw stands in a field of wheat on his farm near Jetmore, Kan. President Joe Biden's nomination of Tom Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department is getting a chilly reaction from many Black farmers who contend he didn't do enough to help them the last time he had the job. The former Iowa governor served eight years as agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel File)
Black farmers unconvinced by Vilsack's 'root out' racism vow

By Roxana Hegeman Feb. 09, 2021 03:16 PM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2020 file photo, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds updates the state's response to the coronavirus outbreak during a news conference in Johnston, Iowa. At a 2019 event, Reynolds auctioned off an afternoon of her time to the highest bidder to raise money for her top campaign donors' charity. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Iowa governor auctioned off access for pork barons' charity

By Ryan J. Foley Feb. 08, 2021 01:18 PM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who the Biden administration chose to reprise that role, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Agriculture secretary nominee Vilsack endorses biofuels push

By Ashraf Khalil Feb. 02, 2021 03:23 PM EST

Editorial Roundup: Iowa

By The Associated Press Feb. 01, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Jan. 29, 2021. Editorial: Lundgren’s work on grant program will help keep Iowa businesses afloat ...

FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2021, file photo President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
What Biden's Cabinet picks say about how he plans to govern

By Alexandra Jaffe Jan. 10, 2021 08:24 AM EST

FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2020, file photo, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a news conference, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Reynolds and four top Iowa officials cooperated in making a marketing video for a company that has received no-bid contracts during the state's coronavirus response. The arrangement between the state and Utah-based Domo Inc. has raised allegations of favoritism and improper use of public resources. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Iowa governor, aides appear in PR video for no-bid vendor

By Ryan J. Foley Jan. 07, 2021 12:15 PM EST

Editorial Roundup: Iowa

By The Associated Press Jan. 04, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Fort Dodge Messenger. Dec. 30, 2020. Keep Bill Northey at USDA. Here’s a great way for Joe Biden to show bipartisanship ...

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden pause to talk with Ashley Biden and her husband Howard Krein as they walk from St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Today is the anniversary of Neilia and Naomi Biden's death. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Transition stumbles test Biden's bond with Capitol Hill

By Lisa Mascaro Dec. 18, 2020 12:10 AM EST

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2017, file photo, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden is set to pick McCarthy as domestic climate czar. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Biden taps Buttigieg for transportation, Granholm for energy

By Michael Balsamo, Jonathan Lemire, Thomas Beaumont And Ellen Knickmeyer Dec. 15, 2020 02:09 PM EST