Trump taps Sonny Perdue as secretary of agriculture

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Sonny Perdue.
(Image credit: Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images)

Sonny Perdue, the Republican former governor of Georgia, has been chosen to lead the Agriculture Department, Trump transition officials told Politico Wednesday. Agriculture secretary was the last vacant nomination in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet.

A formal announcement is expected to be made on Thursday. Perdue was one of the first members of Trump's Agricultural Advisory Committee, launched in August. He earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Georgia in 1971, and was a captain in the Air Force. Since 1977, he has owned several agribusiness and transportation companies, and in 2011, launched Perdue Partners, which facilitates the exports of U.S. goods and services.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.