(Washington, D.C., March 13, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue yesterday swore in Devon Westhill to serve as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Following the swearing in, Secretary Perdue issued this statement:

“We are excited to welcome Devon Westhill to the USDA family. With his unique personal background, significant leadership expertise, and broad professional experience, I know Devon will serve USDA’s customers and employees with the fairness they deserve. Our aim at USDA is to treat everyone fairly, with transparency, objectivity, and consistency,” said Secretary Perdue. “The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights is essential for us to fulfill our motto to ‘Do Right and Feed Everyone,’ and provides leadership and direction for the fair and equitable treatment of all USDA customers and employees while ensuring the delivery of quality programs and enforcement of civil rights.”

Background:

Immediately prior to his appointment, Deputy Assistant Secretary Westhill served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the United States Department of Labor (DOL). While serving at DOL, Westhill was in charge of outreach to legal and policy organizations, think tanks, and the administrative law scholar community. Westhill also served as liaison to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and chairman of the DOL HBCU working group. Deputy Assistant Secretary Westhill’s career also includes stints in all three branches of government and the United States Navy, and work in both private law practice and the nonprofit sector.