President Biden’s nominee for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, said he would arrive at the USDA with a “serious focus on getting stuff done quickly,” considering the many challenges facing the department, from the pandemic to racial equity and rural development. There is “a lot to keep anyone up at night,” said Vilsack during a conference on biosecurity.

Vilsack was agriculture secretary throughout the Obama years. Biden recruited him to serve again.

“This time I go into this job fully understanding and appreciating the breadth and importance of the department, the work that it has to do, the fact that in many areas, there has been a lot of challenges, a lot of change,” said Vilsack. “What keeps me up at night is, can we respond to the challenge of COVID in a way that minimizes the damage to people and the economy?” He also listed the equitable administration of USDA programs, rural development, and “the next bioterrorism threat” or cybersecurity attack.

“It’s a reason why I go into this job with a much different attitude and a more serious focus on getting stuff done quickly, to be able to minimize some of the challenges and risks that we face,” he concluded.