GOP Failure to Confirm Brad Pfaff as DATCP Secretary
Senator says move is further proof that the Republicans have gerrymandered the state to the point that they no longer feel accountable to the people who elected them.
MADISON - Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to fire the Governor's Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection cabinet appointment, Brad Pfaff. The move left Wisconsin's leading agricultural agency without its top leader in the midst of rising trade tensions on the federal level and a growing dairy crisis that is threatening family farms across the state.
Brad was raised on a family farm in western Wisconsin and had dedicated his life to improving outcomes for our farmers. Since his nomination in December of 2018, Secretary-designee Pfaff was a trusted and credible partner of farmers, agribusinesses, and rural communities. His rejection by Senate Republicans shows how far they have strayed from representing the interests of farmers.
The following statement comes from Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) on the GOP failure to confirm Brad Pfaff as DATCP Secretary.
“Everything we know about Secretary-Designee Pfaff is that he is a smart, caring and dedicated public servant who has developed very close and strong relationships with the people he has been tasked to help. There is near unanimous support among the various groups in agriculture and the dairy industry supporting his appointment.
“And everything we know about what’s happening in the dairy industry and agriculture at large in our state is not good news. Our dairy industry is in crisis. We are losing family farms in terrifying numbers everyday—something that started well before Secretary –designee Pfaff took office. Our farms have run into extremely poor weather that has made their jobs even more difficult than they typically are and they are getting battered by the tariffs and trade wars.
“Senate Republicans could have stood up for family farmers today. After all they are the folks who are struggling and suffering the most in an industry that being taken over by large corporate farms at their expense.
“Instead, they chose to follow the lead of President Trump’s agriculture Secretary by reinforcing the message he had for state farmers when he visited only weeks ago: You aren’t big enough or rich enough to matter.
“This is further proof that the Republicans have gerrymandered the state to the point that they are no longer accountable to the people of this state and yet another reason why non-partisan redistricting reform must happen if there is to be any chance of electing a legislature that will truly represent the people.”
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Thanks to Wisconsin Senate staffer Jay Wadd for his contribution to this article.