Long-time USDA Chief Information Officer Gary Washington was named the Acting Secretary of the USDA.

Washington has been the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s CIO for almost seven years and a government employee since 1997. Washington was also the CIO for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Washington spent five years in private industry as well as ten years as a Computer Operator and a Command Control Specialist in the U.S. Air Force.

Washington will handle the administrative duties of the office while Brooke Rollins’ nomination moves through the Senate. Her confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday before the Senate Ag Committee.

Fed Scoop says while the newly inaugurated Trump administration is waiting for Senate confirmation of its initial nominations for Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials, one of the first actions by the White House was appointing temporary leaders in several departments.