If confirmed to again serve as USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety, Mindy Brashears said she will enter the job as she left it — as a scientist with her integrity intact.
Speaking at her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, the Texas Tech University food safety professor said: “When I held the position of Under Secretary for Food Safety in the first Trump administration, I had the opportunity not only to put my technical knowledge into practice, but also had the chance to implement science-based food safety policies to advance the mission of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.”
“If confirmed to this position, it will be a top priority for me to make decisions based on sound science and to develop and implement policies that are scientifically sound and practical, and, most importantly, that will have a meaningful impact on public health outcomes,” she told Senators.
Among Brashears’s “greatest accomplishments” during her first time as Under Secretary for Food Safety, she said, were modernizing swine and egg inspection systems at FSIS and establishing a culture of data-driven, science-based decision making at the USDA agency.
“I also oversaw programs such as laboratory accreditation and spearheaded programs that improved the efficiency of testing and sampling methods for the agency,” she continued. “I was committed to strengthening our workforce through recruitment programs at Universities and Vet Schools.”
After stepping down in 2021, Brashears returned to TTU, spending four years redirecting her research program to generate data that is practical for informing public policy.
“I have been on the front lines of food safety, which has provided me with the firsthand knowledge to lead the food safety work at USDA effectively, Brashears said. “I have spent many days collecting samples in beef, pork, and poultry plants, mapping pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria throughout the various stages of processing, from the lairage areas when the livestock first enters the establishment to when the final product enters commerce.”
The Senate committee still must vote on Brashear’s nomination before it moves for a floor vote by the entire Senate. President Trump nominated Brashears on June 2, and the Senate committee hearing was on Oct. 29.
As judged by the pretty straightforward questions Brashears received from the Senators, she’ll likely soon gain a vote recommending her nomination.
Her nomination is moving faster this time than during Trump’s first term. At that time, she was not nominated until 2018 and was not confirmed by the Senate until March 2020. Former Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue appointed her as “acting deputy” Under Secretary for Food Safety. This position did not require Senate confirmation, but allowed her to get to work.
If confirmed by the Senate, Brashears will become the only person to serve a second stint as USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety. Others who’ve served in the position include Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, Dr. Richard Allen Raymond, Dr. Elsa A. Murano, and Catherine Woteki.
Back in academia, Brashears has been far from silent. In 2023, she and former FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas together called for a single federal food safety agency.
Several top federal legislators, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, chair of the food safety caucus, have also called for consolidating food safety operations.
Brashears’ first term as USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety lasted for 303 days and coincided with most of the COVID-19 epidemic. After her departure, House Democrats issued a report saying Brashears and other USDA officials prioritized “production and profits over the health of the workers and communities.”
There were no COVID-19 questions at her nomination hearing.
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