Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is on her first week on the job and she has a big agenda.
Large cuts are coming down the line for all departments, and USDA is no exception. In her first television interview as a Secretary of Ag, she said that the cuts were a small part of President Trump’s bigger plan.
“Almost every American believes that our government is too big and that we are losing our way as a constitutional, founding fathers vision of self-governance. Across the board, not just here at USDA, but in every agency, we’ve all been tasked by President Trump to figure out a way to streamline, to make more efficient, but at the same time, to make better. I think sometimes that’s lost in the narrative, perhaps more the left-leaning media; this is not about taking food out of hungry children’s mouths, it’s never about that, it’s about figuring out whether the Administration, the administrative state, the bureaucracy, is appropriately and intentionally achieving its mission. Whether that’s USDA or Department of Defense or Department of Health or Education, whatever it is, we all have to do a better job. So I am actually excited, it won’t be easy, but I think there is a lot we’re going to be able to find that we can return those dollars to the taxpayer, figuratively, and in so doing, make these programs much more effective and stronger, with SNAP being at the top of the list.”
The cuts have already begun. DTN reports thousands of USDA employees were let go last week. They were on probationary status, meaning they were mostly new or newly-promoted employees. Rollins says she has terminated nearly 80 contracts worth $130 million so far, with most aimed at DEI employees.
