Using the CCC to hand billions to big farmersmajor Trump supporters in 2016 is a signature move of Perdues USDA. However, Perdue was faced with a Democratic House that would not allow the 1956 flag to be included in the referendum, due to its Confederate origins, and he needed support for a tobacco tax he wanted to pass to raise revenue. An investigationby the Food and Environment Reporting Networks Leah Douglas found that at least 40 percent of chicken plants operating at the higher speeds experienced COVID outbreaks, versus 14 percent for the overall meat sector. He oversees 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.8 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff and more than 340,000 students. "The. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. A Senate panel backed a bill on Tuesday that would put pressure on local school boards to adhere to the open meetings laws and create barriers to removing disruptive parents from meetings. Steve Fennessy: So how do you get a job to be chancellor? So Sonny Perdue is very much in the good graces of Donald Trump. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. The income stemmed partly from the sale of conservation credits under a federal wetlands protection program. The latest scrutiny stems from Perdues wealth of current and former interests in agriculture, trucking and land development a complex web of trusts, land parcels, holding companies and subsidiaries. Raphael Warnock. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Eric Stirgus: The chancellor is sort of the person who makes sure all the trains run on time, so to speak. Steve Fennessy: There's something else going on here. Across the state, teachers have found themselves caught in a conservative battle to ban divisive topics from classrooms, which Republican lawmakers define as a various list of ideas regarding race. Earlier this week, Georgia's Board of Regents announced that Sonny Perdue was the sole finalist for the job. Charles S. Bullock, III, The Georgia Political Almanac, The General Assembly 199394. Perdue is a cousin to Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Eric Stirgus: I think, you know, his critics have a couple of reasons that they're concerned. [60] In August 2019, Lewis Ziska, a USDA plant physiology climate scientist, quit after department administrators attempted to impede the publication of one of his studies in the journal Science Advances. Steve Fennessy: So I'm guessing that maybe he wants to stay out of this altogether, or do we know if he is going to make any kind of public statement endorsing one way or the other? The former two-term Georgia governor has kept his cabinet post until the end, maintaining a close relationship with . But should it go to a politician? In April, before the Board of Regents selected Mr. Perdue, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges sent it a warning letter stating that the appointment of a former governor could place the accreditation of the institution(s) they govern in jeopardy.. In this 2017 post, I recount some of the port-related shenanigans the cousins Perdue got up to together, including launching a port-reliant export business. Eric Stirgus: Good question. DECATUR The Washington Post on Tuesday published a story that Archer Daniels Midland Co. sold a grain storage plant valued at millions of dollars to Sonny Perdue for $250,000 weeks after he . Why isn't he going back to his farm? "[45], The project overall has been scrutinized as a waste of taxpayer money due to mismanagement of bond money and extremely low visitors. You know, he provided the money for the budget for the university system, and he understands how the system, you know, to a certain degree, you know, how the system works. Yes, there is a acting chancellor. [61][62], In February 2020, Perdue endorsed putting a price on carbon dioxide, a climate change policy favored by many economists. So those are some of the things that have concerned a lot of state leaders or particularly on the Republican side. [News tape] parent at recent school board meeting, 11Alive: "This isn't critical race theory. Earlier this week, Georgia's Board of Regents announced that Sonny Perdue was the sole finalist for the job. Trump announced just days before his own inauguration, on Jan. 20, 2017, that. You know, he's a strong conservative, you know, and he's David Perdue's cousin. Perdue served in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of captain before his discharge. As expected, the board named former governor and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as its sole finalist to head the University System of Georgia. The staff of Mother Jones is highlighting the years heroes and monsters. [3], In 2004, Perdue sued the Environmental Protection Agency to block environmental regulations on reformulated gasoline. He was sworn in by Supreme Court associate justice and fellow Georgian Clarence Thomas. [56] The attrition rate was particularly high in the Resource and Rural Economics Division (90%) and in the Food Economics Division (up to 89%). Kemp is sort of paying back a favor. He later served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and was named chancellor of the University System of Georgia in 2022.. Background and Education [News tape] parent at recent school board meeting, 11Alive: "I don't know how or why this would be debated.". Has he said, "I'm supporting the guy who's pushing my candidacy for chancellor" or "I'm supporting my cousin who's running against him"? [21] He became the first Republican governor of Georgia in 131 years since Benjamin F. Eric Stirgus: His name is Steve Wrigley and he retired. It's called critical race theory, but other parents and some students said that's not what's going on in the classrooms at all. The secretarys office contends he has complied with the agreement. [News tape] WSB: After what the board's chairman described as a nationwide search with, quote, "numerous highly qualified candidates," in the end, the board voted to pick Perdue as the sole finalist for the job. Governor Pierre Howard asking for more responsibilities, and Howard obliged. [7] Our engineers are Jesse Nighswonger and Jake Cook. after feeling punished under Trump, "Economists flee Agriculture Dept. Eric Stirgus: There was some support on the regents, but not enough support to get him across the finish line to be named as chancellor. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "As the vigil ended, the sun shone through what had been a cloudy morning. Steve Fennessy: Yeah. Steve Fennessy: So what happened then? The other election pits Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler against the Rev. Georgias public university system said on Tuesday that former Gov. Steve Fennessy: You mentioned that there's a long political history between Sonny Perdue and Brian Kemp. In 2010, at the tail end of his second term as governor, Perdue named his cousin, David Perduewho had just stepped down as chief executive of Dollar General discount storesto the board of the Georgia Ports Authority. [55], In July 2019, Perdue ordered two USDA agenciesthe Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agricultureto move from the USDA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. to the Kansas City metropolitan area. [7] His appointment was approved by an 8711 vote by the Senate on April 24. Two-thirds of the reassigned USDA employees chose to quit rather than accept relocation. He had even served as the 81st Governor of Georgia, and his tenure was from 2003 to 2011. [18], Perdue was elected as a Democrat in 1991, 1994, and 1996. There, he managed a workforce of 110,000 employees in the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the stated objective of being the most efficient, effective and customer-friendly agency in the . The credits are meant to offset the environmental impact of land development and they can be bought and sold on the marketplace. [23] Prior to Perdue's becoming governor, no state agency had compiled an inventory of what assets were owned by the state. Perdues response? Eric Stirgus: You know, he's never spoken publicly about it. [72], In 2006, Perdue's financial disclosure forms revealed that he had a net worth of approximately $6 million and received compensation of $700,000 that year.[73]. So you have 14 members who serve each congressional district in Georgia, and then there are five at-large positions. He's a two-term former governor, Secretary of Agriculture. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. You know, I've worked with him, but you know, I just didn't feel like, you know, he was the best person for the job. I can't imagine Sonny Perdue doing that." Eric Stirgus: Correct. [69] Perdue lives in Bonaire, Georgia. [63], In August 2020, Perdue supported the president's re-election while promoting the Farmers to Families Food Box Program; Perdue was fined for violating the Hatch Act. [46] The land was eventually sold to developers; however, the state was evaluating bidding on the property and keeping it as a reserve. His name is Sonny Perdue. Lance Cheung/USDA; Mother Jones Illustration. While it is often especially difficult for members of a governing board who are appointed by the governor or legislative body to remain independent in their work, it is imperative that they do or they place the accreditation of the institution they govern in jeopardy." You know, he was brought on actually, you know, during Sonny Perdue's tenure to take on the job. He spent his 2020 like he spent the other years of his Washington stint: flattering his boss at every opportunity, and lavishing largesse on political allies while undercutting poor people and food-system workers. He won the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election, defeating Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes 51% to 46%, with Libertarian candidate Garrett Michael Hayes taking 2% of the vote. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? There may be that short list that some of these members of the Board of Regents have, but they're not allowed to discuss it publicly. Enlivened by these bald lies, and perhaps feeling a competitive spark, Perdue replied that Trump is the embodiment of the amazing spirit that built this country. He sounded quite satisfied after a year spent campaigning for his boss while inflicting lasting damage to poor people and food-system workers during a deadly pandemic that the administration did so very little to control. The crux of the watchdog complaint comes down to a handful of Perdues businesses the secretary reported as sources of income, at least a half-million dollars, on his 2019 filing. So, you know, we've been hearing that this from faculty members who have been upset about, you know, some of his credentials in that space. Many credit Pierre Howard for helping Perdue build the early foundation of what would become his future political career.[20]. Steve Fennessy: This has been percolating for a while now, Eric: this this idea of Sonny Perdue as the next chancellor of the University of Georgia system. Kemp has used congressional redistricting to add more Sonny Perdue supporters to the Board of Regents. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has long been President Donald Trumps most effective advocate among rural voters. Eric Stirgus: Yeah it's an important issue because, you know, colleges and universities that do not have accreditation, they can their students cannot get federal financial aid that helps pay for tuition for a lot of college students. Then there were the full-on MAGA-bots like Sonny Perdue, the Georgia politician and agribusiness entrepreneur who became agriculture secretary. [67], Perdue's assets during his time as Secretary were placed in blind trusts, as is common to prevent financial conflicts of interest. "To me it was a boondoggle because of the amount of money they were spending and the location," said Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Kudlow used the opportunity to fluff Trumps economic record. David Perdue now a U.S. senator to . Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue pledged in 2017 to separate himself from his multimillion dollar business holdings that could pose conflicts of interest in his public duties. Your support makes this possible. A USDA spokesperson denied Perdue was involved and said holding such land doesnt conflict with his duties as secretary. [News tape] 11Alive: He tweeted, "Brian Kemp is running for governor of the Great State of Georgia. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. That decision and the selection of Mr. Perdue are both intrusions on academic freedom, Mr. Boedy, the University of North Georgia professor, said. The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry overwhelmingly approved his nomination on March 30, with a 191 vote. [News tape] FOX5: The choice of Perdue has already drawn criticism from student groups and university professors who describe Perdue as a career politician with no experience in higher education. Brian Kemp is not. So we have not had a chancellor at least, a non-interim chancellor for at least seven or eight months, right? This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and He won his first term in 2014 by fewer than 8 percentage points. Eric Stirgus: The chancellor is hired by the Board of Regents as a 19-member body, and all of those folks are appointed by the governor and so they serve seven-year terms. The regents hired another firm, and then it put Ms. McCartney as acting chancellor, and so there really hasn't been much movement up until, I guess, the last few weeks. He served as his party's leader in the Senate from 1994 to 1997 and as president pro tempore. She said that this is coming from a place of strength and not weakness. He continued his effort to cut their wages, ultimately teaming with the Department of Labor on a rule change that will result in an aggregate wage cut worth at least $170.68 million annually over the next ten yearsa transfer of money from low-wage workers to relatively wealthy farm owners. Mr. Perdue, a graduate of the University of Georgia, said he considered the opportunity to lead the university system, which has more than 340,000 students, as the capstone to a career of public service. There is no conflict of interest in becoming a trustee of a trust that contains no conflicting interests.. You know, I guess at the time, they sort of came to an impasse and there was a search firm that was hired to help with the process, but pulled out of the process. After the sale, the huge boiler on the property was sold for approximately $500,000, easily covering the cost of the purchase even if the rest of the land had been valueless. He served two terms,. According to the Georgia government's website on Confederate History Month, they also participated in the manufacture of products for the war effort, built naval ships, and provided military assistance and relief efforts"[38] The proclamation was criticized by historians for its historical inaccuracies,[39] although there were, in fact, African-Americans who served the Confederacy. Her name is Theresa McCartney, and she worked under Mr. Wrigley. Sonny Perdue was its sole finalist to become chancellor, a choice that has outraged some professors and led a regional agency to threaten the accreditation of the 26-school system. Why is Sonny Perdue is such a polarizing figure? Steve Fennessy: So there's a school of thought that Gov. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue told the crowd at last week's event in North Carolina that he got a call from the White House. Last month, the U.S. State Department said it will start processing more applicants seeking H-2A temporary. And Sonny Perdue was one of the only, if not the only cabinet member who went the distance in the Donald Trump administration. [42] The floods resulted in Perdue declaring a state of emergency in 17 counties. Jess Mador is the lead podcast producer at GPB News. Steve Fennessy: Chancellor of the University System of Georgia it's one of the most coveted jobs in higher education. We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget. While Perdue puffed up the generosity of his boss, the USDA was busy botching the food-relief effort, awarding fat contracts to distributors ill-equipped to handle them, with the result that some parts of the country got a lot of food, while others got very little, NPR reported. [News tape] CNN: The former president recruited the former Sen. David Perdue to mount a primary challenge to Gov. "The most important activity in which any governing board will be involved in is the selection of the CEO. How did we find out about that? The North American Vexillological Association had deemed it the ugliest U.S. state flag. Eric Stirgus: Yes, definitely. Eric Stirgus: Sonny Perdue, you know, encouraged then-President Trump to endorse Brian Kemp in the Republican primary back in 2018. [22], Perdue advocated reforms designed to cut waste in government, most notably the sale of surplus vehicles and real estate. He was the only member of the Trump administration to endorse such a plan. [48], During meetings with Georgia state port officials, then-Governor Perdue discussed his family business's use of a terminal, then started a new export company in Savannah soon after leaving office. At the beginning of 2020, Perdue yearned publicly for a way to cut federally mandated wages for migrant farm workers on guest visas. The association has publicly condemned how the university system selected Mr. Perdue, a process that largely occurred in meetings without faculty input and closed to the public. And so now he's no longer on the regents. I give him my full and total endorsement.". [24], On January 18, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Perdue to be United States secretary of agriculture. Brian Kemp is in a fierce battle with David Perdue. [29] Perdue also created additional opportunities for charter schools and private schools. I'm Steve Fennessy. Subsequently, the trust sold off AGrowStar LLC and Pro Ag Products LLC (none of the other assets posed any conflict of interest with his duties as Secretary of Agriculture). Once again, left-leaning organizations like American Oversight will do anything they can to stop this administration from helping the American people, the spokesperson said. Steve Fennessy: The governor appoints the regents on the Board of Regents; there's 19 of them. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. But the threat is part of the latest controversy for the Board of Regents, which in October approved a new policy where universities can fire tenured professors with little to no faculty input. Similarly, while the pandemic savaged meatpacking workers, killing at least 563 as of mid-December, the ag department kept on with a trend it had started in 2019: allowing giant poultry companies to speed up their slaughterhouse kill lines. And then also, I think, you know, there's been some criticism that he's not the best qualified person for the position. I think Steve really was making maybe about a half million dollars when he retired, so that's way more than the governor of Georgia was making. (Washington, D.C., April 28, 2020) - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to keep meat and poultry processing facilities open during the COVID-19 national emergency. President Trump is endorsing Brian Kemp's Republican opponent in the primary, David Perdue, to be the next governor. Eric Stirgus: He has some interest in the job because, you know, he realizes the importance of higher education to the state's economy. Brian Kemp: Obviously, this is huge for our campaign. Sonny Perdue, of course, was a two-term governor of Georgia, as well as secretary of agriculture under former President Donald Trump. "There is one thing we know for sure: Sen. David Perdue will be . [25], In 2007, Perdue convinced a skeptical legislature to approve a $19 million fishing tourism program he called Go Fish Georgia. Revoking accreditation to schools including the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State and Georgia Southern would be a monumental step. Ethics authorities have already issued warnings to a dozen Trump administration officials for violating the Hatch Act, but Perdues straightforward appeal to reelect Trump was seen as especially flagrant. The new questions surrounding Perdues 2017 agreement follow his rebuke last week by the Office of Special Counsel for using a taxpayer-funded event to promote President Donald Trumps reelection, in violation of the Hatch Act. His nomination was transmitted to the U.S. Senate on March 9, 2017. A department spokesperson claims the 2017 agreement had to refer to the holding company at large, rather than those two firms in particular, because it was the legal entity that owned the businesses. David Perdue is running against Democrat Jon Ossoff in one of two runoff elections in the state that will determine control of the U.S. Senate in the next Congress. Steve Fennessy: So the faction that was opposed or is opposed to the idea of Sonny Perdue as chancellor seems to be getting smaller. Senator David Perdue by their grandfather George Ervin Perdue I. Not satisfied with fighting to take food off the tables of poor families, Perdue also set his sights on farm workers. Who hires the chancellor? [News tape] FOX5: The Board of Regents has made its choice for the state's next chancellor. [47], Perdue was constitutionally ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor in the 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election. There are probably about 48,000 employees in the university system, and they range from professors, assistant professors, you know, associate professors, guest lecturers, you know, everything from electricians to people who work in the cafeterias. Secretary Perdue was just chastised for his abuse of tax dollars for political purposes by ethics authorities, so we cannot take these claims at face value, he said. Perdue led Ossoff in the . This is Georgia Today. Secretary Perdue did nothing wrong when he complied with his ethics agreement and followed the advice of career ethics officers at USDA (at considerable personal expense) to restructure his trusts.. Perdue is one of the original Trump Cabinet appointees who remained by the president throughout the administration. Eric Stirgus: It was pretty newsy for us. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms shocked manyby announcing last week she will not be running for reelection. Sonny Perdue on Confirmation to Lead Dept. Opponents of the choice say Perdue's appointment would jeopardize academic freedom across the systems 26 campuses. One is looking at his record, as you know, the governor of Georgia. So I think there is some concern out there among some of them. [2] He previously served as the 81st governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011; Perdue was the first Republican to hold the office since the Reconstruction era.[3]. RELATED: Oversight group isnt reviewing Georgia regents choice of Sonny Perdue. The COVID-19 crisis served as yet another opportunity to promote the political fortunes of his boss, without impeding his pursuit of a pro-agribusiness, anti-worker agenda. The watchdog groups are now seeking information about whether Perdue was involved in a decision by the Army Corps of Engineers which works with USDA on some wetlands restoration efforts to reallocate Soque River Conservations credits in a way that significantly increased their value. The complex arrangements were criticized as breaking the spirit of the rule, however, and that Perdue and his family's ties to his corporation were not distanced as much as the law intended. Eric Stirgus: Yes, Sonny Perdue backed Kemp's state Senate bid in 2002. [News tape] FOX5: Students against Sonny have collected more than a thousand signatures on a petition on Change.org. June 23, 2021. Eric Stirgus: You know, it's a pretty important job in the state of Georgia. And so, you know, they point to things like that and they also point to issues, you know, point to things that, you know, hey, other states have hired elected officials and former politicians to lead colleges or universities. Eric Stirgus: I think you would have many people who would say that it is a political decision or that the board members themselves have, you know, some say depending on their own personal politics. He stated that legitimate, measurable carbon trading could spur so-called carbon sequestration by giving farmers an incentive to innovate. Sonny Perdue won the 2002 Georgia governor's race, defeating the incumbent, Democrat Roy Barnes, to become the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. [34] In a 2014 editorial published by National Review, Perdue criticized attempts by "some on the left or in the mainstream media" to connect climate change to weather events. Like Trump, he's a former Democratwho ascended to political power (in Perdue's case, Georgia. But Sonny Perdue was there from the beginning. The secretarys numerous and labyrinthine financial interests in agribusiness and land development makes it essential that his ethical commitments be rigorously enforced so as not to create a conflict of interest, Austin Evers, the groups executive director, wrote last week in a letter to the IGs office. Perdue wrote that "liberals have lost all credibility when it comes to climate science because their arguments have become so ridiculous and so obviously disconnected from reality. In July, with the economic fallout from the pandemic generating a massive hunger crisis, Perdue alighted on North Carolina, a key swing state, to stage a rally promoting congressionally mandated food aid as an example of the personal benevolence of Donald Trump. Perdue, Trump's first and only agriculture secretary, is a notable exception. Citing export losses from Trumps trade war with China, the USDA lavished mainly huge soybean, hog, and cotton farmers with $28 billion in 2018 and 2019more than double the price tag of President Barack Obamas 2009 auto bailout. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 24,[49] with Bernie Sanders and nine Democrats voting against him. The property (in Estill, South Carolina) had originally been purchased by ADM for 5.5 million dollars, and independent assessments and government tax assessors agree on that as a fair range; however, AGrowStar was offered the property for US$250,000, a fraction of its value. [43], Beginning in 2007, Governor Perdue began to pursue the goal of making Georgia the "bass-fishing tourism mecca". Now the nonprofit American Oversight is asking USDAs inspector general to review the new structure of Perdues assets and determine whether it violates the commitments he made as a nominee for the job in 2017. Mr. Perdues appointment as chancellor would also limit his contributions to the campaign of David Perdue, his cousin and a former senator who is running against Gov. Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. From the year 2017 to 2021, George has served as the 31st United States Secretary Of Agriculture. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources figures showed 21,101 people visited the Perry facility in fiscal 2015, which ended June 30. In his 2002 election campaign, Perdue promised that he would let the state's citizens vote to determine the state flag. In July, as the general election heated up, the department tapped a Depression-era funding mechanism called the Commodity Credit Corporation to come up with $14 billionwithout having to consult Congressto hand to producers of commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat, ostensibly for losses due to the coronavirus. Here to help us make sense of the implications of all this is Eric Stirgis, who covers higher education at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? [8] Perdue served as Secretary of Agriculture throughout Trump's term. Later, FALF Management Trust was created. It pays pretty well. Mr. Perdue served two terms as governor from 2003 to 2011, and later became Secretary of Agriculture under President Donald J. Trump. Am I being naive to think that that that would be the case? Eric Stirgus: Yes. A Big Ag corporation sold it to Sonny Perdue's company for $250,000", "Agriculture secretary pick Perdue led big political change in Georgia", "Official: Perdue flew copter without license", "Governor Perdue Makes Acting Debut in "We Are Marshall", Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Perdue&oldid=1142223043, Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Presidents pro tempore of the Georgia State Senate, Republican Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state), Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 05:05. [25] Perdue then used the new law on his 2004 tax return to defer $100,000 in taxable gains from the sale of land. I understand that the Board of Regents, at least in its previous iteration, was not necessarily too keen on the idea of Sonny Perdue as the next chancellor, is that correct? The first two companies are managed by Perdues children, according to Georgia records. Conley. Therefore the new trust Perdue listed on his 2019 financial disclosure, identifying himself as a co-trustee, poses no conflict of interest or violation of his ethics commitments, the spokesperson said.
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