Opinion
I suspect there is risk anytime there is no serving Under Secretary for Food Safety, but it’s gone unrecognized.
We were lucky that Brashears was confirmed when she was, just as the pandemic was declared. COVID-19 put the meat and poultry industries and their employees under unprecedented pressure. The Defense Production Act was used to keep meat counters from going as empty as the toilet paper aisle. FSIS establishments spent more than $1 billion to protect staff from the virus.
In researching why the Under Secretary for Food Safety post is so often vacant, it’s clear administration transitions play a role. I have a modest suggestion for the incoming Biden Administration. Ask Brashears to remain on the job until her successor named by President Biden is confirmed the U.S. Senate.
It would be a great way for the Biden Administration to acknowledge that these lengthy vacancies do harm to food safety. It would also be a way of finding out who really is down for smooth transitions and for all I know, Brashears may ready to go back to Texas.
But this modest proposal has the potential to help with the transition part of this problem. Otherwise we’ll just have to start the vacancy clock again.
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