Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller is reportedly in the mix to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture if former President Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November.
Trump has reportedly indicated to those close to him that Miller was at the top of his list to be the next secretary of agriculture, according to Politico.
Miller was purportedly at the top of Trump’s list to run the department in 2016 “until some of the president’s advisers got to him and said ‘you got to pick someone who can actually run the department,’” Politico’s anonymous source said.
Although he was not selected to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2016, Miller told The Texan that the plan was for him to start as an undersecretary at the agency if Trump had been elected for a second term in 2020.
Miller would have eventually taken over for Sonny Perdue when he retired during Trump’s second term, but Joe Biden won the 2020 election and nominated Thomas Vilsack instead.
Miller addressed the recent rumors that he is in contention for a job in the White House, saying that circulating reports are “a pretty good indication that I’m on the list,” per The Texan.
“No one’s asked me, and I don’t think anyone is thinking about the cabinet right now. They’re thinking, like me, about working my tail off to get Trump elected. We can worry about the cabinet later,” he told The Texan.
During his time as the Texas agriculture commissioner, Miller has been at odds with other parts of the state’s government.
Miller has had friction with Gov. Greg Abbott, claiming the governor “threatened the lobby not to give me any funds.”
“I didn’t raise a dime from anywhere in Austin last election. He made sure that he cut all that off. I still haven’t got a meeting with him in 10 years. Still haven’t gotten a phone call returned,” he said, per The Texan.
In 2022, Miller criticized Abbott’s policy of conducting additional commercial inspections along the southern border, claiming that the move was just “political theater” and that Texans would suffer.
“It is stopping food from getting to grocery store shelves and in many cases causing food to rot in trucks — many of which are owned by Texas and other American companies. … The people of Texas deserve better!” wrote Miller in a letter to Abbott after the new policy was introduced, according to The Texas Tribune.
The Dallas Express reached out to Abbott for comment regarding the news of Miller’s potential cabinet opportunity but did not receive a response by publication.
