(WASHINGTON D.C.) — On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump announced the nomination of Stephen Vaden to be the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture at USDA.
Vaden, the former general counsel at USDA during Trump’s first term, is currently a judge for the U.S. International Court on Trade. He was nominated for that judgeship by then President Trump in December 2020.
In a post on Truth Social, President-elect Trump said “I am pleased to nominate Stephen Alexander Vaden to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, where he will work with our Great United States Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins. In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform. Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade. Judge Stephen Vaden resides in Union City, Tennessee, where he helps manage his family farm. Congratulations Stephen!”
In a social media post, USDA Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins said in part that “Judge Vaden’s resume speaks for itself: Yale Law, former GC of USDA, and now a Judge on the Court of International Trade — a lifelong appointment he now gives up to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of USDA. But more important than any accomplishment on his extensive resume is his deep understanding that American greatness is a direct function of American agriculture — and, as Lincoln said, USDA is “The People’s Department” and ought to be run as such. I look forward to building the best team in the Department’s history alongside Stephen and delivering every day for our American farmers.”
Vaden, who has a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt and a law degree from Yale, resides in Union City, TN where he helps to manage his family farm. During his time as a judge for the U.S. International Court on Trade, Vaden oversaw the case that involved countervailing duties being placed on phosphate imports from Morocco. His decision in the case was one of the factors the led to the Commerce Department lowering tariffs on phosphate imports from Morocco.