Senate Confirms Censky, McKinney for USDA

The Senate last week confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominations of Stephen Censky as USDA’s deputy secretary and Ted McKinney as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

Censky has been the CEO of American Soybean Association in St. Louis and McKinney has been the Indiana agriculture director.

Until now, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has been the only Senate-confirmed political appointee at the USDA, and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in a news release he was pleased to provide Perdue some help.

“I am pleased that the U.S. Senate was able to work in a bipartisan and swift manner to confirm Stephen Censky and Ted McKinney,” Roberts said. “Secretary Perdue, help is on the way.”

Perdue said Censky will “help us be responsive to producers reeling from the effects of multiple hurricanes and also offer prudent counsel as Congress continues work on the 2018 farm bill.”

McKinney will “take charge of the newly created mission area focused on trade, and wake up every morning seeking to sell more American agricultural products in foreign markets,” Perdue
said.