Birthday: April 10, 1972

Hometown: Glen Rose, Texas

Primary residence: Fort Worth, Texas

Current role: United States Department of Agriculture Secretary 

Net worth/salary: 

Education: 

• Bachelor’s Degree from Texas A&M

• JD from University of Texas, Austin

Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:

Past roles: 

• Domestic policy director to President Donald Trump (2016-2020)

• CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) 

• President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI)

• Deputy General counsel, Ethics advisor, and Policy Director to Texas governor Rick Perry

Interesting facts: 

• Rollins founded the American First Policy Institute with oilgarch Tim Dunn

• Rollins served as the President and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) Rollins headed the “Save America Coalition,” a group launched in 2021 that pledged to spend $10 million attacking President Joe Biden’s economic proposals 

Fighting Renewable Energy 

• In December 2021, the Texas Public Policy Foundation worked with the Koch funded American Legislative Exchange Council to pass a bill to punish financial companies that stop investing in oil, gas, and coal, banning them from receiving state government contracts or managing state funds.

• Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Life:Powered initiative, founded by 2024 climate criminal Bernard McNamee, opposes renewable energy initiatives and promotes the continued widespread adoption of fossil fuel energy. 

• Represented by 2024 climate criminal Kevin Roberts, TPPF signed on to an open letter to fight against an electric vehicle tax credit. 

• The AFPI’s America First Agenda opposes “renewable-only energy strategies”.

Climate Change Denial and Disinformation 

• On January 31, 2025, US Department of Agriculture employees were ordered to delete landing pages discussing climate change across agency websites and document climate change references for further review.

• The Forest Service, an agency within the USDA, has removed climate resources, research and adaptation tools from its website.

• AFPI posted the following on its Facebook page on May 10, 2024: “MYTH: U.S. natural gas is not clean. FACT: The U.S. is the world’s cleanest natural gas.”

• The AFPI has also received donations from DonorsTrust. This right-wing organization anonymizes contributions and has given grants to groups and projects that are among the most active in questioning the link between fossil fuel emissions and climate change and in attempting to block green legislation.

Praise 

• “[Rollins] did an incredible job during my first term as the director of Domestic Policy Council, director of the Office of American Innovation, and assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives.” -President Donald Trump

• “Texas will continue to lead…we’re going to have Brooke Rollins at the head of the Department of Agriculture, Brooke is fantastic, Brooke is terrific.” -Ted Cruz 

• “I think [Trump and Rollins] will make a great team in terms of how we make sure there is prosperity in rural America.” - Former USDA Secretary Mike Johanns 

Political Power 

• AFPI has prepared for a second Trump administration since 2022, creating the “America First Transition Project” to articulate its policy goals. Rollins is now able to implement this vision for environment and energy in one of the highest positions of power in the country. 

• Rollins oversaw the White House Office of American Innovation under President Donald Trump between 2018 and 2020. She also served as the director of the United States Domestic Policy Council during President Trump’s first term. 

• The America First Policy Institute has directly helped shape the anti-climate change policy agenda for the second Trump administration. 

• One of AFPI’s suggested energy policies was to allow or expand fossil fuel extraction in Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve, both of which are reflected in Trump’s Executive Order titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential”. 

• Many other recommendations, such as “encourag[ing] greater offshore and onshore oil and gas production” and “halt all new discretionary regulatory policy activity and actions that would disproportionately target one sector at the expense of another” are also reflected in Trump’s first Executive Orders. 

• “Trump’s decision to nominate Brooke Rollins to head USDA shows that he is determined to fill his cabinet with loyalists who will do whatever he says. Rollins has a long history of attacking the science of climate change and climate policy before, during and after her tenure in the first Trump administration.” - League of Conservation Voters 

• “Outside of a misdirected interest in Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, Brooke Rollins appears to have no agricultural policy track record to comment on. Rollins' AFPI, described as the second Trump administration in waiting, has so little interest in farm policy that there are no agriculture experts listed on its website.” - Union of Concerned Scientists 

• "We all know the climate changes throughout the year, but the cause and solutions are not widely understood or defined," -Rollins, February 13, 2025 

• “Climate change hysteria is political cover to export American jobs and manufacturing to places like Mexico and China.” -Rollins, September 10 2024 

• "We know the research of (carbon dioxide) being a pollutant is just not valid.” -Rollins, 2018 

• “Adherence to the Paris Climate Agreement would stall or preclude unleashing American energy, a prodigious stimulant for economic growth” - in Trump should kill the failing Paris agreement, co-written by Rollins, June 2017

• “The policies of climate activists only exacerbate the difficulties of providing affordable and reliable energy. The burdensome regulatory policies pushed by ‘build-nothing’ environmentalists mean additional costs for providers of the most affordable and reliable sources of power. These additional costs for providers expose Americans to a greater risk of rolling brownouts and blackouts.” - America First Policy Institute’s “America First Agenda” on climate, spearheaded by Rollins, 2022.

Promoting Fossil Fuels 

• The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), where Rollins was previously President, is a Koch-funded group that has attacked efforts to fight climate change in Texas and is on the advisory board of Project 2025. TPPF has conducted a national campaign against climate action by shaping laws, running influence campaigns, and taking legal action to promote fossil fuels. 

• The America First Policy Institute argues for expanded fossil fuel production through “removing undue regulatory constraints.” 

Ties to Fossil Fuel Interests  

• Trump’s first speech in D.C. after January 6, 2021 was at an America First Policy Institute event, and the group’s annual galas have been hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

• Rollins' husband Mark is the President of HKN Energy, a private oil and gas company that operates in Iraq. 

• List of funders to the Texas Public Policy Foundation reveal significant contributions to the Texas Public Policy Foundation from big oil companies including but not limited to Koch Industries, Koch family Foundations, Peabody Energy, and ExxonMobil.

• Rollins approached Tim Dunn (fellow oilgarch, CEO of an oil and gas company, and billionaire Trump 2.0 campaign donor), who she worked with at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, to register the AFPI in 2021. This allowed the Institute to fully assist with a second-term policy agenda for Trump.