Yesterday, President Obama recess appointed Elisabeth Hagen to serve as the USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety. Hagen was nominated by Obama in January 2010, but has had difficulty getting the Senate’s attention.
Hagen had been the chief medical officer at the USDA. Now, as undersecretary, she will head the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the regulator of meat and poultry products.
Americans overwhelmingly support government protection of the environment and consumers, a series of new polls shows. The findings come as efforts to enforce and expand regulation face increasingly hostile rhetoric from conservatives and industry representatives in Washington.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed several changes to its regulation of chemicals that should improve the public's access to crucial information. The improved data collected under the proposed rule will help the agency and the public identify potential chemical risks and take action to manage those risks.