Senate Committee to Scrutinize USDA's Crisis Management

Why it Matters

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee's USDA oversight hearing on June 10 will examine a workforce exodus, disputed grant cancellations, and a documented spike in food safety complaints. The hearing's actions will impact rural economies, food safety, and the integrity of federal research programs.

A Department Under Strain

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, chaired by Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) and with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) as ranking member, will examine how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is managing a period of significant internal upheaval.

The administration's proposal to relocate USDA researchers from Washington to satellite offices has run into a wall of resistance. According to a survey by the National Federation of Federal Employees, 76 percent of USDA members tapped to relocate say they are not planning to do so. The union's president wrote to lawmakers arguing that the 2026 fiscal year appropriations law explicitly prohibited using appropriated funds for reorganization activities without prior notice and congressional approval, and claims the relocation effort is a potential violation of a spending restriction Congress itself enacted.

Committee members have already pressed USDA's deputy secretary with written questions, including whether a cost-benefit analysis was conducted; how many Washington-based employees would leave rather than relocate; and how the agency planned to manage nutrition program operations during a major reorganization, according to Feedstuffs.

Disputed Grant Cancellations

Grist published an investigation on June 1 reporting that USDA abruptly terminated nearly $300 million in grants supporting sustainable farming and land access programs because of fraud and wasteful spending. Multiple grant recipients told investigators they had no record of the expenditures USDA cited in their budgets, raising questions about whether the agency's stated justifications were accurate.

USDA's own National Appeals Division reportedly ruled that the terminations were "a matter of general applicability" rather than based on specific misconduct by individual grantees, according to EnviroLink Network, undercutting the fraud rationale. Politico reported earlier that a grant manager stated USDA had "actively blocked awardees" from implementing the grants, then cited the absence of progress as grounds for termination. The terminated grants were part of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access program, designed primarily to help farmers of color acquire and maintain agricultural land.

Food Safety Complaints Climb as Staffing Falls

The agricultural oversight stakes extend beyond the research and grant programs. Investigate Midwest reported on May 13 that complaints about the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products jumped nearly 40 percent last year, from 1,443 to 2,016, following the Trump administration's workforce reductions at USDA. The agency reduced its overall workforce by 18 percent between January and June of the prior year, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency responsible for placing inspectors in slaughterhouses and processing plants, lost approximately 9 percent of its staff.

Budget Cuts and Rural Consequences

The Trump administration's proposed budget for USDA included nearly $5 billion in cuts, with budget documents stating the proposal "eliminates programming that does not serve a core mission." Critics warned the reductions could significantly harm rural America.

On May 12, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the removal of ten lenders from the USDA Rural Development OneRD Guaranteed Lending Program, precluding them from further participation. The removal of lenders from a key rural lending program against the backdrop of broader budget cuts adds another dimension to the oversight questions the committee is positioned to raise.

The Committee

The full committee will convene at Wednesday, June 10 at 2:00 p.m. in G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, including members whose states have significant agricultural and rural development interests.

On the Republican side are Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), John Hoeven (R-ND), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

Democrats include Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

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