McKalip named acting chief of staff at USDA
August 25, 2015 |12:36 PM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that he has selected Doug McKalip as acting chief of staff while he searches for a successor to Brian Baenig, who has resigned to take an as yet unannounced job in the private sector.
“Doug is a civil servant with a long history of service to American agriculture and the department,” a spokeswoman said. “Secretary Vilsack expects to permanently fill the role of chief of staff soon, and he appreciates Doug’s service in the interim.”
McKalip returned to USDA in February as a senior adviser to Vilsack after several years on detail to the White House Domestic Policy Council and coordinator of the White House Rural Council. In the White House, McKalip also handled biotechnology policy.
McKalip laid the framework for the formation of the White House Rural Council, helped coordinate the administration response to the drought of 2012-2013, and provided policy counsel for the 2014 farm bill, a Vilsack spokesman said when he returned to USDA.
He began his career at USDA in March 1994 with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He served in many leadership capacities for NRCS, including director of legislative and public affairs from 2000 to 2008. He served as confidential assistant to Vilsack from 2009 to February 2011.
He grew up in Saegertown, Pa., and was profiled in The Meadville (Pa.) Tribune in 2012.
