Rollins testifies before House Agriculture Committee
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins testified before the House Agriculture Committee today for more than five hours.
Rollins listed USDA’s actions since she became secretary and answered questions from members. Both House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., ranking member on the committee, said the committee had a lot to discuss with Rollins, but they took different attitudes.Thompson said, “I’m proud to call her a friend and deeply appreciative of the leadership she has shown in just a few short months on the job.”
He added, “We are turning the page to a new chapter for American agriculture — one where new scientific breakthroughs and technology will work hand-in-hand with tradition, stewardship, and grit to address the challenges at hand and build on the legacy of resilience and innovation driven by our farmers and ranchers.”
Craig said, “I am genuinely concerned that under this administration, agricultural policymaking has become much more partisan and polarized. This reckless push to cut nearly $300 billion in funding to a title of the farm bill – instead of prioritizing getting a full 12-title, 5-year farm bill across the finish line – is of particular concern. And has put a bipartisan farm bill in jeopardy.”
In addition, DOGE has been given essentially a free pass to damage program integrity and undermine the USDA’s ability to carry out its core functions and provide key services that America’s farmers rely on. Your agency has fired and then had to rehire agency employees because of uninformed and reckless decisions over the course of the past few months.”
Our trade deficit is increasing. Retaliatory tariffs are coming. Countries are already moving to buy commodities from other nations instead of American farmers. Input costs are stubbornly high. The bird flu remains a concern. Food banks have been defunded. Billions of dollars in farm programs remain frozen. School cafeterias have been cut off from sourcing locally grown food. Food safety and animal health experts have been fired or forced out. Nutrition assistance programs are being decimated. The farm bill is in jeopardy. The USDA inspector general, who rooted out fraud, waste and abuse, was fired. The MAHA Commission is issuing reports with made-up science and fake citations without talking to family farmers. … So yes – we have a lot we want to talk to you about today. Thank you for being here.” After the hearing, Craig said, “There was a lot of talk today about how the Trump administration is putting America’s farmers first. But I think if you actually asked many farmers, ranchers and producers, they’d be less certain.”
Earlier today, President Trump said on social media that U.S. and Chinese negotiators had reached agreement on a trade deal.Craig said Rollins had mentioned China agreed to a trade deal a few times today, “but if you look under the hood, it’s not delivering more market access. It appears we’ve just re-agreed to move forward with the previous tentative framework that was agreed to last month in Geneva. As we sit here today, it seems we’re still stuck at ‘a concept of a plan.'”
–The Hagstrom Report
