President-elect Trump is expected to name former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to serve as secretary of Agriculture, a source close to the transition told The Hill.
Loeffler is currently the co-chair of Trump’s second inaugural committee, ahead of his January 2025 swearing in, along with real estate mogul Steve Witkoff.
Loeffler briefly represented Georgia in the Senate after being appointed in 2019 following the resignation of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R). She lost her bid for the seat in the 2020 special election to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
She had supported Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results and announced she would object to the certification of the results in Congress, but voted to certify the results after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The former senator backed Trump during his Georgia criminal case, arguing the racketeering criminal indictment against him and his allies was politically motivated. She testified as a witness before a Fulton County grand jury in 2022 and was among the dozens of people the special grand jury recommended be indicted, but Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) eventually decided against charging her.
Loeffler penned an op-ed in February in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calling on the judge overseeing the case to remove Willis. She argued Willis’s relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade made it impossible for her to have prosecuted the case against Trump fairly.
Before serving in the Senate, Loeffler was CEO at digital asset company Bakkt. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and sold the team in 2021.
The agriculture industry is closely watching Trump’s transition, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to crack down on unhealthy foods if he’s confirmed to run the Department of Health and Human Resources. Trump made gains among rural voters in pivotal battleground states such as Georgia and North Carolina, which helped fuel his victory in the 2024 race.
Updated at 3:05 p.m. EST