Brooke Rollins

Brooke Leslie Rollins (born April 10, 1972) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 33rd United States secretary of agriculture since February 2025.

Rollins previously served as deputy general counsel, ethics advisor, and policy director to Texas governor Rick Perry. From 2003 to 2018, Rollins led the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank.

Rollins was director of the Office of American Innovation from 2018 until 2020 and the acting director of the United States Domestic Policy Council during Donald Trump's first presidency. In between President Donald Trump's first and second administrations, Rollins co-founded the America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank established to promote an America First policy agenda.

On November 23, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rollins to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. On February 13, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by a 72-28 vote.

Early life and career

Rollins's mother Helen Kerwin is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, a position to which she was elected in 2024.

Rollins was raised on a farm in Glen Rose, Texas. She graduated Texas A&M University with a B.S. in agricultural development in 1994. While at Texas A&M, Rollins was the first woman to be elected student body president. She also served as the speaker pro tempore of the Student Senate, the chair of the Texas A&M Judicial Court, as a Fish Camp counselor, and was Cotton Bowl Classic Queen. In 2007, Rollins became the first female speaker at the College Station Aggie Muster, which honors deceased Texas A&M former students.

Rollins earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, graduating with honors. After graduating from law school, Rollins worked for several years at Hughes & Luce, LLP in Dallas and clerked under U.S. Federal District Court judge Barbara M. Lynn. Rollins previously served as deputy general counsel, ethics advisor, and policy director to Texas governor Rick Perry.

Rollins was the president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank, from 2003 through 2018. During her tenure at TPPF, the think tank grew from having a staff of three to a staff of 100. In 2011, Texas Monthly named Rollins one of the 25 most powerful Texans. During her time at the foundation, it advocated to end agriculture subsidies for farmers and opposed ethanol-requirements for fuels.

First Trump administration

Office of American Innovation

In February 2018, it was reported that Rollins would replace Reed Cordish, who served as an assistant for intergovernmental and technology initiatives, within the Office of American Innovation. She subsequently joined the administration as the director of the Office of American Innovation and on September 6, 2018, also became the assistant to the president for strategic initiatives.

Rollins was influential in encouraging the passage of the First Step Act, legislation that reforms the nation's prison system and seeks to reduce recidivism. The First Step Act was signed into law by President Trump in December 2018.

Domestic Policy Council

In May 2020, President Trump named Rollins acting director of the United States Domestic Policy Council.

In her first public interview as acting director of the Domestic Policy Council, Rollins said she was focused on bringing "together all sides of the table to figure out how we can move forward together." She said the U.S. "is a nation in mourning for the senseless death of George Floyd and the senseless loss of livelihood all over this country." Rollins struck an optimistic tone on the country's future, saying "this is America and we have been through difficult times before. We are a nation of doers and believers and dreamers, and we are a nation where if anybody tells us to step back, we step three feet forward."

Amid nationwide protests and racial unrest, Rollins said, "We need everyone to rise above the division and the divide and come together." She said the White House was "working through a list of solutions and possibilities, bipartisan. How do we come together? How do we use this as a unifying force for this country?"

At an event announcing the signing of the new order, President Trump said his goal was to maintain law and order as well as justice and safety. He said, "Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals. They are not mutually exclusive. They work together." According to Politico, the order was crafted "in consultation with police officers, mayors, conservative African Americans, faith-based leaders and the families of victims."

Between first and second Trump administrations

In December 2020, Rollins and Larry Kudlow began forming a new nonprofit organization focused on continuing to promote Trump's public policies.

Rollins was the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, founded in 2021 to plan and promote Trump's public policy agenda, as well as file election lawsuits in battleground states. The organization was staffed with multiple current and former Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

Rollins served as a leader of the Save America Coalition, launched in 2021 to oppose Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion economic proposal.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (2025–present)

File:Associate Justice Clarence Thomas swears in Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, 2025.jpg

Rollins being sworn in by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, 2025

Nomination and confirmation

On November 23, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rollins to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Rollins is the second woman to hold the position, after Ann Veneman. She appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture on January 23, 2025. Her nomination was supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forest & Paper Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, International Fresh Produce Association, U.S. Seafood Policy Council, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Mining Association, Independent Women's Forum, and Fertilizer Institute.

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced Rollins' nomination in a unanimous vote on February 3, 2025. On February 13, 2025, the United States Senate confirmed Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by a 72–28 vote.

Tenure

On February 13, 2025, Rollins was sworn into office as the 33rd Secretary of Agriculture by U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.

Rollins has indicated her opposition to the California farm animal welfare law Proposition 12 and support for federal legislation to overturn state laws affecting agricultural goods sold across state lines. Proposition 12 prohibits the sale of food products in California raised from animals confined in battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates too small for them to extend their limbs and turn around. In her confirmation hearing in January 2025, Rollins told Senator Joni Ernst that she would work with Congress on legislation to overturn Proposition 12. At a House Appropriations Committee hearing in May 2025, Rollins called Proposition 12 "not sustainable."

File:Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, 2025.jpg

Rollins with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, May 2025

On June 23, 2025, Rollins announced an end to the "roadless rule" that was put into place by President Bill Clinton just before he left office in 2001. The rule had prevented any road construction on 58 million acres of national forest land. Rollins explained "President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule."

Personal life

Rollins is married to Mark; they have four children.

See also

• Political appointments by Donald Trump in his second term

External links

• Brooke Rollins at Ballotpedia
• Template:C-SPAN