The Under Secretary for Rural Development is a position within the United States Department of Agriculture responsible for oversight of the Department's rural development programs and policies. The incumbent Under Secretary is Dallas Tonsager, who was sworn into office on May 18, 2009. The previous Under Secretary was Thomas C. Dorr, who was sworn into office by the Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns on July 27, 2005. The Under Secretary before him was Jill Long Thompson.
The Department lists three program areas managed by the Under Secretary: business, utilities, and housing. The programs provide $14 billion annual funding for loans, grants, and technical assistance to rural residents, communities, and businesses, and an $87 billion portfolio of existing business, housing, and infrastructure loans to rural America. The Rural Development part of the Department of Agriculture has over 7,000 employees in the United States. For the three program areas, there is a Rural Utilities Service Administrator, a Rural Housing Service Administrator, and a Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator.