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Undeterred by the pandemic-led spike in hunger, Perdue also doubled- and tripled-down on a long-held goal: boosting work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that would eliminate food aid forat least 1.2 million peopleabout a third of them households containing senior citizens, nearly a quarter with children, and 11 percent with a disabled person, according tononpartisan think tank Mathematica. Steve Fennessy: So there's a school of thought that Gov. [News tape] WSB: As governor, Perdue's record on education is also being called into question. Is Sonny Perdue staking out any does he have a dog in this fight, at least publicly? . [News tape] WSB: After what the board's chairman described as a nationwide search with, quote, "numerous highly qualified candidates," in the end, the board voted to pick Perdue as the sole finalist for the job. And then also there has been, through the congressional redistricting process, you know, because of some changes insome of the districts, you know, we've had two additional changes on the regents where two members are now no longer on the board and the governor has replaced another one of those members and all three of the members that he has replaced are people who have been, you know, very supportive of the governor in the past through campaign contributions and other ways. Steve Fennessy: What form has that opposition taken on college campuses or in academic circles? Brian Kemp: Obviously, this is huge for our campaign. There, he managed a workforce of 110,000 employees in the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the stated objective of being the most efficient, effective and customer-friendly agency in the . Our engineers are Jesse Nighswonger and Jake Cook. I give him my full and total endorsement.". Senator David Perdue (R-GA) abstained, as they are first cousins. At least he is out of the gate. I'm joined by Eric Stirgus, who covers higher education for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mr. Kemp had received Mr. Trumps endorsement in 2018, but their relationship deteriorated following the Kemp administrations refusal to undermine Georgias presidential election results in 2020. Let's go into November and be against Stacey Abrams together.". AGrowStar (including the assets acquired as part of the Estill deal) was sold by Perdue's trusts in 2018 for 12 million dollars, but due to the secretive nature of the trusts, this was not widely disclosed. [11], Perdue played quarterback at Warner Robins High School and was a walk-on at the University of Georgia,[12] where he was also a member of the Beta-Lambda chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He shortly thereafter became a committee chairman, then climbed the leadership ladder to majority leader and to Senate president pro tempore. The harangue, which ended with the ag secretary leading a chant of four more years, earned Perdue a knuckle-rap from the Office of Special Counsel for violating the Hatch Act, which forbids government employees from campaigning while on the job. It's us but for your ears. (Washington, D.C., April 22, 2020) - Today, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced emergency benefit increases have reached $2.0 billion per month for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households across all 50 states and 3 territories to increase food security during the coronavirus national emergency. They range from Georgia State University, which has the most students in the system, like about 53,000 students; Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State both of those schools have about 40,000 students each and then University of Georgia. It's called critical race theory, but other parents and some students said that's not what's going on in the classrooms at all. You know, he provided the money for the budget for the university system, and he understands how the system, you know, to a certain degree, you know, how the system works. She said that this is coming from a place of strength and not weakness. [News tape] FOX5: The choice of Perdue has already drawn criticism from student groups and university professors who describe Perdue as a career politician with no experience in higher education. While it is often especially difficult for members of a governing board who are appointed by the governor or legislative body to remain independent in their work, it is imperative that they do or they place the accreditation of the institution they govern in jeopardy." Steve Fennessy: As you said, Sonny Perdue persuaded Donald Trump when he was president to endorse Brian Kemp. Founder and partner in an agricultural trading company,[4] Perdue served from 2012 to 2017 on the Governors' Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.[3][5] He is the second secretary of agriculture from the Deep South; the first was Mike Espy of Mississippi, who served under President Bill Clinton from January 1993 to December 1994. And so now he's no longer on the regents. GPB is committedto bringing you comprehensive news coverage from Georgia, across the country and around the world. [46], In December 2004, Perdue bought $2 million worth of land near Disney World from a developer who he had previously appointed to the state's economic development board. American Oversight is now calling on the inspector general to investigate whether Perdue improperly participated in any such decision, given his ethics pledge to stay out of any matters that might have a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of the assets in his trusts. One is there was a group of students who created a group called Students against Sonny. Watchdog organizations are now calling for the Agriculture Departments inspector general to investigate whether Perdue has run afoul of the ethics agreement he signed as a nominee for the job early in the Trump administration. "To me it was a boondoggle because of the amount of money they were spending and the location," said Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Latest news, headlines, analysis, photos and videos on Sonny Perdue Brian Kemp thinks so, and it looks like he's getting his way. One is looking at his record, as you know, the governor of Georgia. The income stemmed partly from the sale of conservation credits under a federal wetlands protection program. As governor, Perdue mastered the Trumpian strategy of using know-nothing bigotry as a beard for brazen self-dealing, sometimes involving his own family. Steve Fennessy: Well, let's unpack a little bit more this rather awkward political relationship going on. The state's Board of Regents on Wednesday named a veteran finance official as the acting chancellor of Georgia's public university system, stalling former Gov. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms shocked manyby announcing last week she will not be running for reelection. David Perdue now a U.S. senator to . "The. So I think there is some concern out there among some of them. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. Similarly, while the pandemic savaged meatpacking workers, killing at least 563 as of mid-December, the ag department kept on with a trend it had started in 2019: allowing giant poultry companies to speed up their slaughterhouse kill lines. Perdue wrote that "liberals have lost all credibility when it comes to climate science because their arguments have become so ridiculous and so obviously disconnected from reality. The Washington Post detailed several wish-list items that ADM achieved: loosening of regulations on pork production, fewer inspections, helping lobby against proposed government bans on glyphosate by Thailand and Vietnam, and promoting ethanol and biodiesel. He's a two-term former governor, Secretary of Agriculture. You know, he also backed Brian Kemp to fill the position of Secretary of State. [1][10] He grew up and still lives in Bonaire, an unincorporated area between Perry and Warner Robins. Georgia Today is a production of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Steve Fennessy: Politics makes strange bedfellows. Steve Fennessy: You mentioned that there's a long political history between Sonny Perdue and Brian Kemp. The credits are meant to offset the environmental impact of land development and they can be bought and sold on the marketplace. In 2011, he founded Perdue Partners, which facilitated the export of U.S. goods and services. Across the state, teachers have found themselves caught in a conservative battle to ban divisive topics from classrooms, which Republican lawmakers define as a various list of ideas regarding race. This is Georgia Today. Mr. Perdues appointment as chancellor would also limit his contributions to the campaign of David Perdue, his cousin and a former senator who is running against Gov. USDA argues that the reorganization Perdue laid out in his 2017 ethics agreement was intended to separate the secretary from two agribusinesses in particular: grain merchandiser AGrowStar LLC and grain marketer Pro Ag Products, both of which were also owned by Perdue Business Holdings before they were sold to outside buyers. [13], In 1971, Perdue earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, and worked as a veterinarian before becoming a small business owner, eventually starting three small businesses. While Perdue puffed up the generosity of his boss, the USDA was busy botching the food-relief effort, awarding fat contracts to distributors ill-equipped to handle them, with the result that some parts of the country got a lot of food, while others got very little, NPR reported. Sonny Perdue's . This week, officials on the Board of Regents announced Perdue is the sole finalist for the top job of chancellor. [19] After his first year in office, Senator Perdue wrote then Lt. The Board of Regents is expected to confirm Perdue's appointment in the next two weeks. It is no surprise that these made up accusations are coming out in the final weeks of October. Eric Stirgus: During his time as agriculture secretary there was, you know, there's been some criticism about his record, you know, concerning issues such as climate change. [51], Perdue was the designated survivor on January 30, 2018, for President Trump's first State of the Union address. Secretary Perdue was just chastised for his abuse of tax dollars for political purposes by ethics authorities, so we cannot take these claims at face value, he said. Sonny Perdue Is Sole Finalist to Lead Georgias Public Universities, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/us/sonny-perdue-georgia-chancellor.html. Perdues response? [47], Perdue was constitutionally ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor in the 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, payments on the Go Fish bonds, approved by Perdue and the General Assembly in 2007, runs through December 2027 with most payments $1 million a year in bond money. On March 1, 2022, the Board of Regents of University System of Georgia appointed Perdue as the system's 14th chancellor, effective April 1, 2022. [45], During his governorship, the Georgia State Ethics Commission received thirteen complaints against Perdue. Sonny Perdue was its sole finalist to become chancellor, a choice that has outraged some professors and led a regional agency to threaten the accreditation of the 26-school system. Brian Kemp is not. Some farmers ended up destroying perfectly good food. However, most served in the early years of the war and were either forced at gunpoint or feared reprisals for disloyalty. Mr. Perdue served two terms as governor from 2003 to 2011, and later became Secretary of Agriculture under President Donald J. Trump. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? Eric Stirgus: Yeah it's an important issue because, you know, colleges and universities that do not have accreditation, they can their students cannot get federal financial aid that helps pay for tuition for a lot of college students. [46] The land was adjacent to the 20,000 acres (81km2) Oaky Woods preserve being sold by Weyerhaeuser. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. It generated $102,077 in revenue or about 11 cents for every dollar it cost to run the center in years past. It's a little off the beaten path. He referenced the pandemic and the phrase "Cultural Revolution." The Board of Regents announced that the former Republican governor is its choice to become chancellor. The FALF Management Trust had no conflicting assets with his duties as Secretary of Agriculture, and therefore the Secretary could become a trustee of the trust. You know, then there are many others outside the metro area. Perdue and the department have argued that the move will lower living costs, save . [44], Upon the end of Perdue's term as governor, many in the Georgia General Assembly condemned the project and Perdue after an advisory council (appointed by Perdue) began to funnel additional bond money to the project located in his home county. But you know, obviously, you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about issues like critical race theory. Perdue is the first cousin of former U.S. He later served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and was named chancellor of the University System of Georgia in 2022.. Background and Education The terms of two of those members expired at the beginning of January, and Gov. [67], Perdue's assets during his time as Secretary were placed in blind trusts, as is common to prevent financial conflicts of interest. I cant imagine Sonny Perdue doing that.. He continued his effort to cut their wages, ultimately teaming with the Department of Labor on a rule change that will result in an aggregate wage cut worth at least $170.68 million annually over the next ten yearsa transfer of money from low-wage workers to relatively wealthy farm owners. I'm going to read a paragraph towards the end of her letter. You can keep up with Georgia today by subscribing to the show at GPB.org. 11/08/2018 02:42 PM EST. Why are we still talking about this, then? Here to help us make sense of the implications of all this is Eric Stirgis, who covers higher education at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The association has publicly condemned how the university system selected Mr. Perdue, a process that largely occurred in meetings without faculty input and closed to the public. Presumably, some political appointees who served in the Trump administration did so with earnest intentions, hoping to bring dignity and professionalism to the task of advancing the Republican agenda of deregulation, austerity (for non-cronies), and upward wealth redistribution. Higher education is where I wanted to have a real impact as governor, only to be stymied by twin recessions, he said in the board-issued statement. This is the golden rule do unto others.". That decision and the selection of Mr. Perdue are both intrusions on academic freedom, Mr. Boedy, the University of North Georgia professor, said. June 23, 2021. Trump said Friday that he has directed Perdue to provide at least $16 billion in relief. Steve Fennessy: So I'm guessing that maybe he wants to stay out of this altogether, or do we know if he is going to make any kind of public statement endorsing one way or the other? Perdue is a cousin to Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Steve Fennessy: Chancellor of the University System of Georgia it's one of the most coveted jobs in higher education. His selection has angered professors concerned about academic freedom. Eric Stirgus: You know, it's a pretty important job in the state of Georgia. The property (in Estill, South Carolina) had originally been purchased by ADM for 5.5 million dollars, and independent assessments and government tax assessors agree on that as a fair range; however, AGrowStar was offered the property for US$250,000, a fraction of its value. In 2005, Georgia state Rep. Larry ONealPerdues personal lawyermanaged to pass what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called a seemingly mundane tax bill thatincluded a a last-minute change that saved the governor an estimated $100,000 in state taxes. Perdue will not improve the state of education as chancellor - he will only ruin it.. Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. However, Perdue was faced with a Democratic House that would not allow the 1956 flag to be included in the referendum, due to its Confederate origins, and he needed support for a tobacco tax he wanted to pass to raise revenue. How is that number arrived at? Listen on Apple Podcasts. Steve Fennessy: How unusual is it for a letter like that to be written? The office directed the USDA chief to reimburse the government for travel expenses and other costs of the event. Perdue addressed the crowd, saying "We've come together here simply for one reason and one reason only: to very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm" and "God, we need you; we need rain." [54] In December 2018, he changed the nutrition standards for school lunches to allow more refined grains, allow milk with added sugar, and increased sodium. [24] During his governorship, Perdue collected at least $25,000 in gifts, including sporting event tickets and airplane flights. Eric Stirgus: Correct. Has he said, "I'm supporting the guy who's pushing my candidacy for chancellor" or "I'm supporting my cousin who's running against him"? The policy, according to the American Association of University Professors, is the only one of its kind in the country. Very few Republican elected officials, operatives, donors and activists in Georgia have. [News tape] FOX5: The Board of Regents has made its choice for the state's next chancellor. He also talked about, you know, bringing stability to the system. Steve Fennessy: So he left in June. Sonny Perdue may soon head up Georgias public university system. The Georgia Public Library Service and the Georgia Archives . The other election pits Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler against the Rev. He switched party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1998 and was re-elected to the State Senate as a Republican. after feeling punished under Trump", 'It feels like something out of a bad sci-fi movie', The Trump administration is suppressing climate science, "US agriculture secretary breaks ranks to endorse carbon pricing", "USDA chief violated Hatch Act by advocating for Trump re-election, gov't watchdog says", "USDA's Perdue fined for violating Hatch Act while promoting food boxes", "Perdue rebuked for violating ethics law by boosting Trump's reelection", "The land was worth millions. At the beginning of 2020, Perdue yearned publicly for a way to cut federally mandated wages for migrant farm workers on guest visas. Mitch Daniels of Indiana has led Purdue University since 2012. In research shared with POLITICO, Accountable.US alleges that farm policies backed by the secretary could potentially have benefited his own or his familys interests beyond the two agribusinesses that were sold. Eric Stirgus: Yes. @SecretarySonny (to use his folksy Twitter handle) stayed the course that characterized his entire time at UDSA. Then there were the full-on MAGA-bots like Sonny Perdue, the Georgia politician and agribusiness entrepreneur who became agriculture secretary. After serving as a member of the Houston County Planning & Zoning Commission in the 1980s, Perdue ran as a Democrat for a seat in the Georgia General Assembly. Why isn't he going back to his farm? Perdue is one of the original Trump Cabinet appointees who remained by the president throughout the administration. Sonny Perdue, of course, was a two-term governor of Georgia, as well as secretary of agriculture under former President Donald Trump. Through it all, Perdue maintained his extraordinary podcast, The Sonnyside of the Farm, a monthly testament to the genius of his boss and the glory of big agribusiness. In this 2017 post, I recount some of the port-related shenanigans the cousins Perdue got up to together, including launching a port-reliant export business. He was the only member of the Trump administration to endorse such a plan. A Big Ag corporation sold it to Sonny Perdue's company for $250,000", "Agriculture secretary pick Perdue led big political change in Georgia", "Official: Perdue flew copter without license", "Governor Perdue Makes Acting Debut in "We Are Marshall", Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Perdue&oldid=1142223043, Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Presidents pro tempore of the Georgia State Senate, Republican Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state), Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 05:05. Sonny Perdue won the 2002 Georgia governor's race, defeating the incumbent, Democrat Roy Barnes, to become the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. His nomination was transmitted to the U.S. Senate on March 9, 2017. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. [News tape] 11Alive: He tweeted, "Brian Kemp is running for governor of the Great State of Georgia. Steve Fennessy: When you look at past chancellors in the university system of Georgia, is that a position where the person who gets the job is typically coming from a higher educational background? [46] After the state dropped out of the bidding and the land was sold to developers, the value of Perdue's property more than doubled. How did we find out about that? Atlanta, GA 30318 The likely appointment of Mr. Perdue, a Republican, comes during a volatile time in Georgia politics, with the State Legislature considering several bills that would ban, or limit, how race and activism are taught in the classroom. Steve Fennessy: When did we first hear that Sonny Perdue who was the outgoing Secretary of Agriculture in the Trump administration, of course a two-term former governor of Georgia was interested in the job of chancellor? Steve Fennessy: The governor appoints the regents on the Board of Regents; there's 19 of them. [67], Regardless of whether the deal was intended to influence Perdue's actions, and if it was if it actually had any impact, the Perdue years were good ones for ADM. Why is there 19? Now to me, Eric, that sounds like a kind of an implied threat that appointing Sonny Perdue as chancellor could mean that we'd lose accreditation. He also has largely avoided the sort of major scandals that have dogged many others in Trumps Cabinet. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "As the vigil ended, the sun shone through what had been a cloudy morning. Steve Fennessy: There's something else going on here. A longtime Atlanta-based journalist, he is a former editor-in-chief of Atlanta magazine. George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III[1] (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. Kemp. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 24,[49] with Bernie Sanders and nine Democrats voting against him. He's also a fierce advocate for Sonny Perdue to land the chancellor job, saying his experience . A former two-term governor of Georgia, George Ervin Perdue III, known throughout his life as Sonny, served as Agriculture Secretary from 2017 to 2021. An investigationby the Food and Environment Reporting Networks Leah Douglas found that at least 40 percent of chicken plants operating at the higher speeds experienced COVID outbreaks, versus 14 percent for the overall meat sector. [24], Late in the evening of March 29, 2005, the penultimate day of the legislative session, Representative Larry O'Neal, who also worked part-time as Perdue's personal lawyer, introduced legislation making capital gains tax owed on Georgia land sales deferrable if the income goes to purchase out-of-state land, also, unusually, making the tax break retroactive. Enlivened by these bald lies, and perhaps feeling a competitive spark, Perdue replied that Trump is the embodiment of the amazing spirit that built this country. He sounded quite satisfied after a year spent campaigning for his boss while inflicting lasting damage to poor people and food-system workers during a deadly pandemic that the administration did so very little to control.