Trump expected to offer Kelly Loeffler secretary of Agriculture

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN

(CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer Kelly Loeffler the job of secretary of the Department of Agriculture, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

He is set to meet with her at Mar-a-Lago Friday afternoon, but as is always the case, nothing is final until Trump announces it.

Loeffler, who briefly represented Georgia in the Senate, had fundraised for Trump during the 2024 race and raised several million dollars for his campaign over the summer when she hosted a debate watch party with Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley. Several of Trump’s other Cabinet picks — including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik — were at that party.

Loeffler is also co-chairing Trump’s inauguration, as CNN previously reported.

The agriculture job will likely be a significant one — especially as Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promised to assert his influence over the agriculture industry.

Loeffler, appointed to the Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over the wishes of Trump, lost her seat in a 2021 runoff to Democratic now-Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Loeffler was a staunch Trump ally in Congress, saying prior to the violence on January 6, 2021, that she planned to vote against certifying her state’s electoral results in support of Trump’s broader effort to upend Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

After the US Capitol attack, Loeffler backed off her objection, saying on the Senate floor: “When I arrived in Washington this morning, I fully intended to object to the certification of the electoral votes. However, the events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these electors.”

In the same speech, Loeffler condemned the violence at the Capitol, calling it “abhorrent.”

Loeffler was among the witnesses who appeared before the grand jury as part of Trump’s 2020 election subversion criminal case in Georgia.

Before joining the Senate, Loeffler served as an executive at a financial services firm in Atlanta. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

Family members received farm subsidies

Loeffler’s family members received more than $4.1 million in federal farm subsidies between 1995-2023, according to an analysis from the Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy organization.

The nonprofit organization obtains its data from the Department of Agriculture, often by making Freedom of Information Act requests. CNN has not independently confirmed the data, which appears to include Loeffler’s parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew.

Loeffler has often talked about how she grew up on a family 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 now run by her brother Brian Loeffler; his wife, Molly; and his son Collin, according to the Loeffler Farms website.

Don Loeffler received nearly $1.3 million in federal subsidies since 1995, according to EWG. And Brian Loeffler has received about $1.6 million since then.

Asked about the subsidies during Loeffler’s Senate campaign in 2020, a spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it would be hard to determine at the time how much her family’s farm received in subsidies, since some of the land had been sold over the last decade and a half.

The federal government provides a variety of subsidies to farmers. Some are given to promote specific kinds of farming practices and others focus on research and development, conservation practices, nutrition and disaster aid. During Trump’s first term, his administration provided more than $20 billion in subsidies to farmers who were hurt by his trade war with China.

The Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Loeffler was among the wealthiest lawmakers during her short time in Congress. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange. When running for election in 2020, she announced she and her husband were divesting from individual stocks amid sharp criticism over trades she and other lawmakers made ahead of the market downturn caused by the coronavirus.

Kemp had appointed Loeffler to fill the seat of Johnny Isakson, who had left the Senate before the end of his term because of health concerns. Trump, however, had pressed the governor to appoint then-Rep. Doug Collins, who then challenged Loeffler for the remainder of Isakson’s term. The two Republicans sought to one-up the other and showcase their loyalty to Trump, moving further and further to the right in a state where Atlanta’s more moderate suburban voters were key. Collins fell short in the November 2020 election, while Loeffler and Warnock advanced to the January 2021 runoff.

This year, Trump has 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.

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