Senate Confirms Perdue As Agriculture Secretary

Former Georgia Gov. George E. "Sonny" Perdue breezed to confirmation Monday as President Donald Trump's agriculture secretary.

Perdue faced few obstacles in the Senate, winning approval by a vote of 87-11 Monday.

"I'm pleased to vote for Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue," Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who's running for re-election in a state Trump surprisingly carried in November, said. "I look forward to working together to strengthen Wisconsin's agricultural economy and our rural communities."

Perdue is taking over a department that faces a 21 percent funding cut proposed by Trump in his budget blueprint last month -- the third-largest proposed cut to any federal agency. Trump also proposed cuts to the State Department and Environmental Protection Agency.

"As a member of the administration, I view this budget similar to what [I did] as governor," Perdue said at his confirmation hearing last month. "I didn't like it ... but we managed to it."

Perdue, 70, served as Georgia governor between 2003 and 2011 and was a state senator for 11 years before that.