WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s plan to reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
“A reorganization of this scale will impact USDA’s ability to provide critical services to Americans and undermine the Agency’s trusted expertise that farmers and families count on.
I have serious doubts that the Administration adequately considered the impact of this move on research and on services for farmers and rural Americans, particularly after the loss of over 15,000 employees in the past six months. The USDA must come before Congress to explain why it wants to adopt this plan just as farmers have been hit with obscenely high tariffs, families have been walloped by SNAP cuts, and research grants have been frozen and reduced.
Agriculture has always been America’s pride and joy. This half-baked proposal – submitted with no consultation with leading Agricultural Senators – will set us back. We must have an immediate hearing before more damage is done.”
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