Yesterday Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley sought unanimous consent from his Senate colleagues to confirm Secretary Bill Northey to serve as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas put a hold on the post in October of 2017 due to his opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard and Grassley says again yesterday refused to lift that hold.
Grassley says Cruz’s objection is based on an oil refinery in Philadelphia filing for bankruptcy due to the RFS. So, the Senator had his staff look into the matter and found the RFS is working as intended.
As a result, Grassley has worked to clear the objection of Cruz, saying It’s based on an issue Northey will not be involved with at USDA.
The Senate Ag Committee voted unanimously in October to send Northey’s nomination to the full Senate.
Grassley spoke on the Senate floor about the issue and was joined by Senate Agriculture Committee colleagues Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
