WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Newly confirmed U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Friday morning that

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team has been

operating at the agency for "a few weeks" and that she welcomed

their efforts.

Rollins was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.

Speaking at an event at the U.S. Department of Agriculture

headquarters, Rollins said she was proud to welcome the

cost-cutting team to the agency.

"We know that that work will make us better here at USDA. It

will make us stronger, it will make us faster, and it will make

us more efficient," she said.

Musk, the Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder who spent

more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect President

Donald Trump, leads the Department of Government Efficiency, a

new arm of the White House tasked with radically shrinking the

federal bureaucracy.

Rollins said she expected full access for DOGE from all USDA

teams. She also said the agency would end diversity, equity and

inclusion work and identity celebrations and return all

personnel to working in the office instead of from home,

aligning with Trump's executive orders.

Rollins said she was briefed on avian flu on Thursday night.

The early weeks of the Trump administration have brought

disruption to the federal effort to contain the spread of the

virus, which has infected millions of poultry, thousands of

dairy cattle, and almost 70 people.