The Department of Agriculture (USDA) appointed Kailee Tkacz Buller, a former Koch Brothers employee who most recently lobbied for the seed oil industry, to be the agency’s Chief of Staff on Tuesday.
Buller, who worked for the USDA in the first Trump administration, has worked for various food product interest groups, including the Corn Refiners Association as well as a stint as the president and CEO of the Edible Oil Producers Association.
Most recently, she held the positions of president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), a lobbying group that represents the U.S. soybean, canola, flaxseed, safflower seed and sunflower seed industries.
Her appointment appears to put the USDA at direct odds with Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the larger Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement that he’s inspired. (RELATED: RFK Jr. Wants Fluoride Out Of Water — And It’s Not Nearly As Crazy As His Detractors Claim)
Kennedy Jr. has blasted seed oils, calling them “one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic.” He’s been a staunch supporter of beef tallow, pushing fast food chains to fry their food in the beef fat over seed oils.
Seed oils are one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods. We need to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OOqGffhFUy
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 25, 2024
His advocacy has inspired some chains, like Steak ‘n Shake, to abandon seed oil in favor of tallow.
For others, like Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Kennedy has brought attention to a cause that she has been advocating for since before it was popular.
“We’ve been working on this for, actually, a couple years now, but other members are also starting to take notice,” Luna told the Caller, crediting President Trump for elevating Kennedy’s platform.
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 21: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) departs after giving remarks during a rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Aero Center Wilmington on September 21, 2024 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Trump is returning to Wilmington, North Carolina after his previous scheduled rally in April was canceled because of a thunderstorm. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Luna revealed she’s currently working on a bipartisan bill with Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker to label products containing seed oils as unhealthy. “Not an outright ban,” she told the Caller, “but labeling similar to how you would label a cigarette box or something that’s toxic for you, so that people can be health conscious and aware of this.”
Luna, like many in the MAHA wing, took note of Buller’s hiring.
“I hope that that individual does the right thing,” Luna told the Caller. “If they work against President Trump’s MAHA agenda I will be the first one to put them on blast by name.”
Buller’s hiring sets up a potential conflict between USDA Secretary-designate Brooke Rollins’ department and the HHS. It also shows a potential willingness to break from President Trump early on in his second administration.
Butler’s past experience as a Koch Associate at the Charles Koch Institute is notable. Trump, in mid-January, asked his followers on Truth Social not to recommend anyone to his administration if they worked for Americans for Prosperity (or as he jokingly called it “Americans for No Prosperity), a Charles Koch-ran political advocacy group.
The Daily Caller reached out to Buller and Kennedy Jr.’s teams for further insight on potential conflicts but did not hear back by the time of publication.
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