--- title: Donald Trump's USDA Pick Sam Clovis Withdraws description: Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign aide, withdrew from consideration to be the top scientist at the USDA canonical: https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-02T16:45:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:05:40.696Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Controversial USDA Pick Just Withdrew After Getting Caught Up in the Russia Investigation og:description: Sam Clovis also faced criticism over his lack of scientific background og:url: https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96d882eedbf51493/6988e45d196cf4832d042972/sam-clovis-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Sam Clovis og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Controversial USDA Pick Just Withdrew After Getting Caught Up in the Russia Investigation twitter:description: Sam Clovis also faced criticism over his lack of scientific background twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96d882eedbf51493/6988e45d196cf4832d042972/sam-clovis-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Controversial USDA Pick Just Withdrew After Getting Caught Up in the Russia Investigation > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 2, 2017 4:45 PM UTC  Sam Clovis, national co-chairman of the Trump campaign, speaks during a news conference with Donald Trump, ahead of a rally at Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. Sam Clovis, national co-chairman of the Trump campaign, speaks during a news conference with Donald Trump, ahead of a rally at Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 2, 2017 4:45 PM UTC A former Trump campaign aide withdrew from consideration to be the top scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Thursday amid scrutiny of his scientific credentials and his ties to the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Sam Clovis, a 25-year Air Force veteran and onetime talk show host from Iowa, served as co-chair and policy adviser to the Trump campaign. In that capacity, he oversaw foreign policy [George Papadopoulos](http://time.com/5002832/george-papadopoulos-guilty-plea-indictment/) adviser and encouraged him to meet with Russian contacts. Investigators revealed Monday that Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in connection with the Russia probe. Clovis had also received criticism for lacking a scientific background as he pursued a job with duties overseeing scientific research. Clovis acknowledged that he had no such experience in a [letter](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/02/sam-clovis-trumps-nominee-for-usdas-top-scientist-confirms-he-has-no-hard-science-credentials/?tid=sm%5Ffb&utm%5Fterm=.1a77256ff874) obtained by the Washington _Post._ “The political climate inside Washington has made it impossible for me to receive balanced and fair consideration for this position,” Clovis said in a resignation letter to Trump, according to a Politico [report](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/02/trump-campaign-aide-clovis-withdraws-from-consideration-for-usda-job-244458). “The relentless assaults on you and your team seem to be a blood sport that only increases in intensity each day.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders acknowledged the resignation Thursday. “We respect Mr. Clovis’s decision to withdraw his nomination,” she said in a statement. Before being linked to the federal investigation on Russia, Clovis had already attracted significant attention for past statements on both climate change and gay rights. He has previously questioned the role humans play in warming the planet, something widely agreed upon by scientists, and suggested that [being gay is a choice](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/21/politics/kfile-sam-clovis-lgbt-comments/index.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/"},"headline":"President Trump's Controversial USDA Pick Just Withdrew After Getting Caught Up in the Russia Investigation","datePublished":"2017-11-02T16:45:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:05:40.696Z","description":"Sam Clovis also faced criticism over his lack of scientific background","url":"https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/","keywords":["Agriculture","russia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96d882eedbf51493/6988e45d196cf4832d042972/sam-clovis-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96d882eedbf51493/6988e45d196cf4832d042972/sam-clovis-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Sam Clovis","caption":"Donald Trump Sam Clovis","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/agriculture/","name":"Agriculture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5007440/sam-clovis-russia-usda-donald-trump/","name":"President Trump's Controversial USDA Pick Just Withdrew After Getting Caught Up in the Russia Investigation"}}]}] ```