what is sonny perdue doing now

Since joining the Trump administration, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue's complicated network of ties to Georgia-based entities including his family's company, Perdue Partners raised questions about potential conflicts of interest as well as his working relationship with his cousin, Georgia Sen. David Perdue. [67], Perdue and his wife, Mary (ne Ruff), were married in 1972 after dating for four years. 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. What is that history? "You have got to have stuff where there is a lot of traffic. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Eric Stirgus: The chancellor is sort of the person who makes sure all the trains run on time, so to speak. Perdue is a cousin to Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Eric Stirgus: Well, he didn't go into specifics that day. Is Sonny Perdue staking out any does he have a dog in this fight, at least publicly? (David Perdue is now locked in a tight runoff election that could decide which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.). She says a lot of things. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [48], During meetings with Georgia state port officials, then-Governor Perdue discussed his family business's use of a terminal, then started a new export company in Savannah soon after leaving office. Eric Stirgus: You know, and then there have been other instances where, you know, Sonny has supported now-Gov. Senator David Perdue by their grandfather George Ervin Perdue I. It's us but for your ears. Why isn't he going back to his farm? He was the only member of the Trump administration to endorse such a plan. Steve Fennessy: What did you think when you first heard about that? The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry overwhelmingly approved his nomination on March 30, with a 191 vote. He oversees 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.8 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff and more than 340,000 students. Perdue claimed a combined $511,800 in income from Perdue Inc., a trucking company; Houston Fertilizer & Grain Co., which manages commercial real estate in Bonaire, Ga.; and StarPort Logistics LLC. Our engineers are Jesse Nighswonger and Jake Cook. We noticed you have an ad blocker on. 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"? [47], Perdue was constitutionally ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as governor in the 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election. But the threat is part of the latest controversy for the Board of Regents, which in October approved a new policy where universities can fire tenured professors with little to no faculty input. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue pledged in 2017 to separate himself from his multimillion dollar business holdings that could pose conflicts of interest in his public duties. "The. I mean, you know, there is one former member now, Phillip Lehi, who did, you know, say, Hey, I like Sonny Perdue personally. Sonny Perdue Is Sole Finalist to Lead Georgias Public Universities, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/us/sonny-perdue-georgia-chancellor.html. He was there at the end. His anti-immigrant machinations worked all too well, creating a crippling labor shortage for Georgias immigrant-dependent farms and poultry slaughterhouses. Like Trump, hes a former Democrat who ascended to political power (in Perdues case, Georgia governor) in a stunning upset. She said that this is coming from a place of strength and not weakness. Unquote. There were so many cabinet members who who left, and then he had to appoint new ones. Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, First National Flag of the Confederate States of America, North American Vexillological Association, United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, List of American politicians who switched parties in office, "Former Georgia governor tapped as Trump's agriculture secretary, sources say", "Company Overview of Perdue Partners, LLC", "BPC Congratulates Sec. His selection has angered professors concerned about academic freedom. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. [70], Perdue is an avid sportsman. Sonny Perdue was its sole finalist to become chancellor, a choice that has outraged some professors and led a. [67], Perdue's assets during his time as Secretary were placed in blind trusts, as is common to prevent financial conflicts of interest. Kemp replaced them with two additional members. And I understand that he wasn't the biggest supporter of the idea of Sonny Perdue as chancellor. And you know, I think there have been a couple of state lawmakers who have publicly come out against the idea. He would not be the first governor to move into academia: Former Gov. The watchdogs question whether the sale of AGrowStar and Pro Ag Products was enough to quash all potential conflicts. In 2011, he founded Perdue Partners, which facilitated the export of U.S. goods and services. We'll be back next week. Perdue restructured his original family trust into a new fund that he did not oversee, and the fund then sold off two of his businesses directly involved in agriculture the only assets that posed potential conflicts, according to a USDA spokesperson. I cant imagine Sonny Perdue doing that.. DECATUR The Washington Post on Tuesday published a story that Archer Daniels Midland Co. sold a grain storage plant valued at millions of dollars to Sonny Perdue for $250,000 weeks after he . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Eric Stirgus: Yeah, I mean, and that's the argument that many of Kemp's team has said. There's been a lot of different issues that colleges are facing regarding social issues and political issues. And so, you know, they point to things like that and they also point to issues, you know, point to things that, you know, hey, other states have hired elected officials and former politicians to lead colleges or universities. Here's Why", "USGS Release: Atlanta Flooding Sets New Records", "Gov. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has long been President Donald Trumps most effective advocate among rural voters. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see. Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. 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. Steve Fennessy: So there's a school of thought that Gov. [56] The attrition rate was particularly high in the Resource and Rural Economics Division (90%) and in the Food Economics Division (up to 89%). Eric Stirgus: Yes. 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. The crux of the watchdog complaint comes down to a handful of Perdues businesses the secretary reported as sources of income, at least a half-million dollars, on his 2019 filing. Copyright 2023 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. Brian Kemp thinks so, and it looks like he's getting his way. Last month, the U.S. State Department said it will start processing more applicants seeking H-2A temporary. [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. Eric Stirgus: Correct. 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. So those are some of the things that have concerned a lot of state leaders or particularly on the Republican side. I understand that the Board of Regents, at least in its previous iteration, was not necessarily too keen on the idea of Sonny Perdue as the next chancellor, is that correct? Eric Stirgus: The chancellor is hired by the Board of Regents as a 19-member body, and all of those folks are appointed by the governor and so they serve seven-year terms. This is Georgia Today. Steve Fennessy: News that Sonny Perdue will, in all likelihood be the university system of Georgia's next chancellor comes at a time when state legislators are debating bills about how racial history should be taught in classrooms. [31] The choices were a modified version of the First National Flag of the Confederate States of America, with the Georgia State Seal prominently displayed inside a circle of 13 stars, or the flag created in 2001 by the Roy Barnes administration. [24] During his governorship, Perdue collected at least $25,000 in gifts, including sporting event tickets and airplane flights. All Rights Reserved. And so now he's no longer on the regents. Donald Trump's agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, was confirmed April 24, 2017, and he will have a wide reach in his role. Atlanta, GA 30318 Trump announced just days before his own inauguration, on Jan. 20, 2017, that. There is no conflict of interest in becoming a trustee of a trust that contains no conflicting interests.. The Board of Regents named Dr. Sonny Perdue the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia effective April 1, 2022. Steve Fennessy: So what happened then? Once again, left-leaning organizations like American Oversight will do anything they can to stop this administration from helping the American people, the spokesperson said. Although it returned to last place in 2005,[26] Georgia rose to 49th place in 2006 in the combined math and reading mean score, including the writing portion added to the test that year. It pays pretty well. Why is Sonny Perdue is such a polarizing figure? Georgia Today is a production of Georgia Public Broadcasting. [6] His nomination was approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee by a 19-1 voice vote on March 30. David Perdue is saying, "I'm the big Trump guy here." Republican Sen. David Perdue, a former Fortune 500 CEO, will face off against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old media executive, again in a runoff election Jan. 5. Revoking accreditation to schools including the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State and Georgia Southern would be a monumental step. "[37], According to a March 5, 2008, proclamation by Perdue, "Among those who served the Confederacy were many African-Americans, both free and slave, who saw action in the Confederate armed forces in many combat roles. 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. [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. Why is accreditation important for a university system like Georgia's? 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. Sonny Perdue on Confirmation to Lead Dept. Opponents of the choice say Perdue's appointment would jeopardize academic freedom across the systems 26 campuses. But ethics questions have piled up in recent months about the secretarys mixing of USDA duties and his political promotion of the president. In July, as the general election heated up, the department tapped a Depression-era funding mechanism called the Commodity Credit Corporation to come up with $14 billionwithout having to consult Congressto hand to producers of commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat, ostensibly for losses due to the coronavirus. The new questions surrounding Perdues 2017 agreement follow his rebuke last week by the Office of Special Counsel for using a taxpayer-funded event to promote President Donald Trumps reelection, in violation of the Hatch Act. Not satisfied with fighting to take food off the tables of poor families, Perdue also set his sights on farm workers. Steve Fennessy: OK, Sonny Perdue is, I think he's 75. Eric Stirgus: Good question. 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.

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