A new organization that has a goal of exposing governmental activities has criticized Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for what it calls his lack of involvement in a task force on supply chain disruptions.
A Freedom of Information Act request and subsequent federal lawsuit that the Functional Government Initiative filed produced records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggesting Vilsack has not participated in the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the initiative’s website said.
The White House announced the task force’s creation in June 2021. Vilsack is the task force’s co-chair.
Peter McGinnis, spokesman for the Functional Government Initiative, said in a statement that the Biden administration was right in creating the task force to address supply chain issues that threatened the U.S.’ economic and national security.
“The supposed ‘whole of government’ approach taken by the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack might be more aptly called a ‘hole in government’ approach,” McGinnis said in the statement. “Secretary Vilsack’s failure to convene a single meeting with his fellow leaders, while dedicating federal resources to investigate and blame the private sector, shows that the task force was little more than a cynical attempt to signal engagement on supply chain disruptions while, in fact, doing little or nothing.”
The Functional Government Initiative has a goal of “improving the American public’s awareness about the officials, decisions and priorities of their government,” its website said.
“We do this through investigative research, analysis and education,” the website said.
In 2021, President Biden nominated Vilsack “to return to a role where he served for eight years under President Barack Obama,” the USDA said.
