
Senate committee approves 2 USDA nominees
The Trump administration's picks for two top posts at the Agriculture Department squeaked through the Senate Agriculture Committee on a party-line vote Monday.
The Republican-led committee advanced Stephen Vaden for deputy Agriculture secretary and Tyler Clarkson for general counsel on identical 12-11 votes, with all Democrats in opposition.
Monday's committee action clears the way for confirmation votes on the Senate floor, where the nominees appear on their way to approval, if along largely partisan lines.
Advertisement
'This is a critical step to ensure USDA has the personnel to fulfill the president's strategy to meet the needs of farm families, ranchers and rural communities,' said panel Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) in a news release.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sen. John Kennedy and Linda McMahon make significant math error in congressional hearing
On Tuesday, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon tested before the Senate on behalf of Trump's 2026 budget. During this hearing, McMahon and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy were discussing federal spending for grant programs for disadvantaged students when the pair made a significant mathematical error. The math error occurred when the two spoke on how much the government has spent in the duration of ten years on TRIO and the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). After McMahon confirmed to Kennedy that the government spends approximately $1.58 billion a year on TRIO and has been funding this program for over ten years, Kennedy said, "So that's over a trillion dollars that we've spent on this program..." "We give this money, as I appreciate it, to colleges and universities to encourage poor kids to go to college,' said Kennedy before he went on to imply that colleges have been stealing this grant money from the government for their own purposes, The New Republic reported. McMahon failed to catch and correct Kennedy's math error, however, Sen. John Reed spoke up and corrected the counting mistake. 'I'm not a great mathematician, but I think you were talking about a trillion dollars? I believe $1.5 billion times 10 is $15 billion, and that's a little bit off from a trillion dollars,' said Reed. McMahon said in response that the budget cuts $1.2 billion, to which Reed then replied, "Well that would be $12 billion, not a trillion dollars." Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@ This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Sen. John Kennedy math error. What he said education costs


Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Watch Inside The Forbes Top Creators List & How To Build Your Empire
The New Industrial Identity: The Power Of Digitalization And Automation In America | Paid Program


Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
The 20 Richest Places In Indiana, New Census Data Shows
Many of the top wealthiest cities in Indiana lie in the radius of suburbs around Indianapolis. Where other states in the Midwest have struggled with population decline, Indiana has held strong. Back in 2000, the population of Indiana was a little over a million. By 2024, the population had grown by 14%, reaching 6.92 million. As part of an ongoing series of analyses, states have been examined using the latest Census Bureau data to determine which the richest cities in the state are. For this study, the focus is Indiana. This study analyzed 976 cities — what the Census Bureau designates as 'places' — in Indiana that had complete data from the Census Bureau, in terms of their median household income, mean (average) household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid per year, to come up with a list of the 25 richest cities in the state. Read on to find out what the richest city in Indiana is, plus the top 20 wealthiest cities in the state overall. In order to compile this list of the richest cities in Indiana, we sourced key financial data from the Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey. Wielding these datasets, we put together a four-factor scoring system to help identify the wealthiest cities in Indiana: When analyzing the data, it is important to note that Census figures have upper limits, so there's no exact value for certain factors. For example, for median household income, the Census Bureau has an upper limit of '$250,000+'. For median home value, the upper limit is '$2,000,000+'. For median property taxes paid, the upper limit is '$10,000+'. For these reasons, the mean household income (which is the same as average household income) dataset is particularly useful. Since the Census Bureau has exact figures for it, it's an even more precise barometer of wealth. All four of these metrics were scored, added up, and then ranked by the cities' combined scores. Another aspect of the Census to point out is the Census-designated place — CDP. The Census, more or less, treats CDPs as cities — their terminology is 'place' — and so will this list of the richest cities in Indiana. So, if you see cities on this list that you see as neighborhoods or retirement communities, you're not wrong. These places happen to be treated as cities by the Census Bureau. Below, you'll find a table detailing the top 20 richest cities in Indiana and their respective dollar figures for each metric, below: The No. 1 richest city in Indiana in our ranking is Crows Nest, a town within Washington Township, due north of Indianapolis. Crows Nest is a small place, with only 28 households. This town has an occupational mix that's common to many suburbs. According to Data USA, the top three industries by employment are Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (39.5% of the workforce), Accommodation & Food Services (18.4% of the workforce), and Health Care & Social Assistance (13.2% of the workforce). Incomes in Crows Nest are very high. The median household income here is $245,000, around triple the state median of $81,702. The average household income is even higher, at $744,021. The median home value exceeds $2 million. And property taxes are so high, the median amount paid per household is over $10,000. The No. 2 richest place is just north of the No. 1 city, and it's name is North Crows Nest, appropriately. They are almost exactly the same size, with North Crows Nest having 27 households to Crows Nest's 28 households. The median household income in North Crows Nest is above $250,000. Its average household income isn't as high as in Crows Nest: $546,926 in North Crows Nest versus $744,021 for Crows Nest. The median home value reported by the Census is well over $1.5 million. And just like in Crows Nest, the median property taxes by household is in excess of $10,000. The third richest place in Indiana is Williams Creek. This place is also due north of Indianapolis and lies in the same township, Washington Township. This town is larger than No. 1 and No. 2, being home to 164 households. The employment breakdown is comparable to Crows Nest. The top three industries include Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (24.2% of the workforce), Health Care & Social Assistance (15.2% of the workforce), and Retail Trade (11.1% of the workforce). The median household income in Williams Creek is $218,750, while the mean household income is $372,541. Property taxes are also substantial here, costing households a median of over $10,000 per year. The median home value is reported as $1.212 million.