AGRICULTURE/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “Thanks to the government shutdown, the Department of Agriculture will extend the deadline for farmers to apply for assistance to offset losses they were experiencing as a result of trade tensions between the US and other countries. Applications were due January 15, but the department’s Farm Service Agency, which operates the […]
Category: USDA
8/23/2018
AGRICULTURE/ETHICS/LOBBYING/TRUMP PEOPLE/USDA: “From suggestions for members of a science committee to emails sent ‘on the sly’ and thoughts for the secretary’s speeches, new internal emails from the US Department of Agriculture show big food industry lobbyists are working hand-in-glove with agency staffers. The newly released emails were obtained by the nonpartisan independent Project on Government […]
3/7/2018
LEGAL/USDA: “The head of the United States Forest Service stepped down Wednesday [3-7-18] amid an investigation into sexual harassment accusations against him, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department said. The resignation of the agency’s chief, Tony Tooke, comes days after ‘PBS NewsHour’ reported that the Agriculture Department was investigating sexual misconduct complaints against him, including […]
2/12/2018
AGRICULTURE/BUDGET/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is proposing to save billions in the coming years by giving low-income families a box of government-picked, nonperishable foods every month instead of food stamps. White House OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Monday [2-12-18] hailed the idea as one that kept up with the modern era, calling it a […]
1/25/2018
SONNY PERDUE/USDA: “Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue wants more food-stamp recipients to work for that assistance, an opening salvo in what are expected to be contentious negotiations this year over the next U.S. farm bill. The nutritional-assistance benefits known as food stamps make up the biggest piece of the legislation that governs myriad aspects of food […]
1/24/2018
TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “A new U.S. farm bill reflecting the budget goals of the Trump administration should provide crop insurance products that let farmers withstand economic slumps and also cut out waste in nutrition assistance programs, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday [1-24-18]. USDA issued a broad set of principles it would like to […]
12/4/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “Morale among many of the Agriculture Department’s legal staff has plummeted since Stephen Vaden, the Trump administration’s nominee to be USDA General Counsel, assumed leadership in March, say several agency attorneys from across the country. Vaden, who arrived at USDA in January as part of President Donald Trump’s beachhead team and was […]
11/2/2017
NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “Former Trump campaign aide Sam Clovis, who has been swept up in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, has withdrawn from consideration to be the Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist, according to a letter Clovis sent on Wednesday to President Donald Trump. Clovis had been under criticism for months for his lack […]
7/19/2017
CLIMATE CHANGE/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/USDA: “President Trump on Wednesday [7-19-17] nominated Sam Clovis, a former college professor and talk radio host who has challenged the scientific consensus that human activity has been the primary driver of climate change, to serve in the Agriculture Department’s top scientific post. ‘Dr. Clovis was one of the first people through […]
4/25/2017
USDA/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: ” ‘Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America’ The order creates a task force, led by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, that will identify policy options to promote U.S. agriculture business and job growth in rural America. The task force must submit a report to Trump within 180 days. The task force […]
3/08/2017
CABINET/CONFLICT OF INTEREST/LEGAL/TRUMP PEOPLE/USDA/SONNY PERDUE: “In Sonny Perdue’s telling, Georgians were growing weary of the corruption and scandals in their state when he took over as governor in 2003 — a time when he gave his own version of a ‘drain the swamp’ pledge. Mr. Perdue is one of the last cabinet members awaiting Senate […]