CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer Kelly Loeffler the post of Secretary of Agriculture, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
I plan to meet with her at Mar-a-Lago on Friday afternoon, but as always, nothing is finalized until President Trump makes an announcement.
Loeffler, who briefly represented Georgia in the Senate, is raising money for Trump in the 2024 campaign and spent the summer at a debate watch party with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. , which raised millions of dollars for Trump’s campaign. Several of President Trump’s other cabinet nominees were at the party, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik.
As CNN previously reported, Loeffler also co-chaired President Trump’s inauguration.
Agriculture jobs will likely be important, especially since President Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promised to increase his influence in the industry. .
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp at Trump’s request, but lost her seat in a 2021 runoff to a Democratic incumbent senator. Raphael Warnock.
Loeffler is a staunch ally of Trump in Congress and, prior to the January 6, 2021, riot, was involved in Trump’s widespread efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. He said he would support the initiative and vote against certifying the state’s election results.
After the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Loeffler withdrew her opposition, saying on the Senate floor: “When I arrived in Washington this morning, I had intended to object to the certification of these electoral votes. However, the events that occurred today have forced me to reconsider, and I now in good conscience object to the certification of these electoral votes. You can’t.
In the same speech, Loeffler condemned the violence at the Capitol as “abhorrent.”
Loeffler was one of the witnesses who appeared before a grand jury as part of the criminal case to overturn Trump’s 2020 election in Georgia.
Before becoming a senator, Loeffler was an executive at a financial services firm in Atlanta. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.
Loeffler’s family received more than $4.1 million in federal farm subsidies between 1995 and 2023, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy group.
The nonprofit organization often obtains data from the Department of Agriculture by making requests under the Freedom of Information Act. CNN has not independently verified this data, but it appears to include Loeffler’s parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew.
Loeffler often talks about how she grew up on her family’s farm in Illinois. The farm was started by her grandfather in the early 1900s and was managed by her father, Don Loeffler, for many years. It is currently run by her brother, Brian Loeffler. his wife Molly; son Colin, according to Loeffler Farm’s website.
Don Loeffler has received nearly $1.3 million in federal grants since 1995, according to EWG. And since then, Brian Loeffler has received about $1.6 million.
Asked about the subsidies during Loeffler’s 2020 Senate campaign, a spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that some of the land had been sold in the past decade, so her family said it was difficult to determine at the time how much the farm received in subsidies. And half.
The federal government provides various subsidies to farmers. Some are given to promote specific types of agricultural practices, while others focus on research and development, conservation practices, nutrition, and disaster relief. During his first term, the Trump administration gave more than $20 billion in subsidies to farmers hurt by the trade war with China.
The Department of Agriculture did not respond to requests for comment.
Loeffler was one of the wealthiest members of Congress during her brief tenure in Congress. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange. When running for election in 2020, she announced that she and her husband would divest from individual stocks amid heavy criticism of trades she and other MPs made ahead of the coronavirus-induced market downturn.
Kemp appointed Loeffler to replace Johnny Isakson, who left the Senate before the end of his term due to health concerns. But Trump had been pressuring the governor to appoint then-Rep. Doug Collins then challenged Loeffler for the remainder of Isakson’s term. Both Republicans sought to outlead each other and demonstrate their loyalty to President Trump, moving increasingly to the right in a key state held by Atlanta’s more moderate suburban voters. Collins narrowly missed out in the November 2020 election, but Loeffler and Warnock advanced to the runoff in January 2021.
This year, President Trump selected Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Manu Raju, Katie Lobosco, Rene Marsh and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.
