Full committee hearing following a business meeting to vote on nominations.
Nominees:
Luke Lindberg, of South Dakota, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, vice Alexis Taylor, resigned
Devon Westhill, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights, vice Joe Leonard Jr.
Luke Lindberg is the President & CEO of South Dakota Trade, a 501c(6) public-private-partnership that navigates international trade for South Dakota. During the first Trump term, Lindberg served as the Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. As the agency’s second-highest ranking official, he was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of EXIM and advancing strategic initiatives such as the program on “China and Transformational Exports”, opening new markets for American Liquified Natural Gas, securing America’s supply of Critical Minerals & Rare Earths, and protecting allies in the race to deploy 5G globally.
Devon Westhill is the President and General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank which opposes affirmative action and bilingual education. Westhill led the civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. He has also worked at the U.S. Department of Labor, Federalist Society, and as a criminal trial lawyer in private practice. Mr. Westhill is a U.S. Navy veteran with degrees from UNC at Chapel Hill and the University of Florida.
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee
On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
H.R. 528 (Rep. Pettersen), “Post-Disaster Reforestation and Restoration Act of 2025”
H.R. 655 (Rep. Bentz), “The Dalles Watershed Development Act”
H.R. 1276 (Rep. Comer), To remove restrictions from a parcel of land in Paducah, Kentucky.
H.R. 2876 (Rep. Moore of Utah), “University of Utah Research Park Act.”
On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing titled “Exploring the Potential of Deep-Sea Mining to Expand American Mineral Production.”
Witnesses:
Gerard Barron, CEO and Chairman, The Metals Company and The Metals Company USA
Oliver Gunasekara, CEO and Co-Founder, Impossible Metals
Thomas Peacock, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director, Environmental Dynamics Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Duncan Currie (Democratic witness), Legal Advisor, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
A hearing of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
Republicans are calling for a new fee on electric vehicles.
Witnesses:
Carlos M. Braceras, P.E., Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation; on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
Ty Johnson, President, Fred Smith Company; on behalf of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA)
Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow, Eno Center for Transportation
Brian Burkhard, P.E., Vice President and Global Principal for Advanced Mobility Systems, Jacobs
H.R. 2984, ASTRO Act, to amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize transportation for United States government astronauts returning from space between their residence and various locations.
H.R. 2600, ASCEND Act, to direct the NASA Administrator to establish a commercial satellite data acquisition program under NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration.
H.R. 2313, Celestial Time Standardization Act, to direct the NASA Administrator to develop a celestial time standard to support future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other celestial bodies.
H.R. 2613, Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act, to strengthen public-private partnerships, increase federal research, development, and demonstration related to the evolution of next-generation fossil-fuel pipeline systems, and modernize existing infrastructure.
H.R. 1223, ANCHOR Act, to strengthen the cyberinfrastructure and communication systems of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet to better support and safeguard oceanographic research in remote locations.
H.R. 3029, the Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act, to strengthen biosecurity without regulation by supporting voluntary, stakeholder-driven nucleic acid synthesis standards, safeguarding innovation and national security.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had three weeks to bring the DC Local Funds Act to the floor for a vote. His failure to act is now causing financial chaos for DC.
After years of sterling finances, DC’s bond rating just got downgraded. Our FY26 budget is delayed because of this chaos, and cuts to our schools, emergency first responders, and many more critical services are now imminent.
The House returns from recess on Tuesday and we want to make sure they know DC wants our money unfrozen. Join us on Tuesday April 29 starting at 8:30 AM in Spirit of Justice Park. We start with a training and practice session from 8:30-9:00 AM which everyone is encouraged to attend.
