https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/11/02/sam-clovis-withdraws-nomination-for-udsas-top-scientist-post-after-being-linked-to-russia-probe/?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tid=a_breakingnews&utm_term=.37707907bae7
...............On Thursday White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump had accepted Clovis’ request, saying, “We respect Mr. Clovis’s decision to withdraw his nomination.”
However Clovis indicated in his letter that he will stay on at the Agriculture Department in a senior role, writing, “I will remain a devoted and loyal supporter and will continue to serve at the pleasure of you and the Secretary of Agriculture.”
CNN first reported Clovis’ decision Thursday morning.
The professor and conservative radio talk show host from Iowa, who served as national co-chair of Trump’s campaign, had come under intense fire since Papadopoulos’s guilty plea was filed this week. But he had been a contentious pick since Trump first nominated him this spring, given the fact that he has no experience in the hard sciences and had made controversial comments in the past on climate change and gay rights.
[Trump’s nominee for USDA’s chief scientist, Sam Clovis, confirms that he has no hard science or agriculture credentials]
The position for which Clovis was nominated has traditionally been held by individuals with advanced degrees in science or medicine. The 2008 farm bill specifies that appointees to the position should be chosen “from among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics,” given that the official is “responsible for the coordination of the research, education, and extension activities of the Department.”
Clovis confirmed in an Oct. 17 letter obtained by The Washington Post that he has no academic credentials in either science or agriculture.................
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