USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the Trump administration’s aggressive overhaul of farm, food and trade policy in testimony before the House Ag Committee Wednesday, in what was her first appearance in front of this house committee.
Sharing a post-event recap, Tom Sell of Combest, Sell & Associates told AgriTalk host Chip Flory it was a strong dialogue with Congress.
“She is getting her hands around just the enormity of the challenge at USDA,” he says. “This is a massive bureaucracy with a lot of really important functions that we kind of take for granted. We always say in American politics that the American consumer takes the American farm for granted, and that’s true, but even in the American farm country oftentimes we take the critical services that USDA provides for granted.”
Rollins Defends USDA Cuts
In her testimony, she revealed USDA has terminated over $5.5 billion in contracts, grants and DEI-related training programs, including nearly 1,000 employee trainings. Several House Ag Committee members had follow up questions about USDA’s cuts, including the impact of the 6000 DOGE firings at the agency, that were later reinstated by the court.
Rep. Jill Tokuda, (D) – Hawaii, said USDA staff had informed her the administration’s goal was to get to 2019 staffing levels, requiring a 23% cut in personnel. She asked Rollins if the courts had not stopped the administration if she would have stood by the firings and pushed for additional firings.
Rollins answered, “We are adequately staffed to meet our mission.”
Tokuda added she had heard from farmers that felt USDA was not adequately staffed to support the programs they needed.
Cuts to Nutrition Programs, SNAP Changes
The Secretary was also pushed on USDA’s recent cuts to food and nutrition programs and SNAP changes to exclude items such as soft drinks. Rollins described sweeping reforms to USDA’s nutrition programs–which account for $400 million in daily spending–including:
- Approving state waivers (Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana) to restrict unhealthy foods in SNAP as part of the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.
- Reminding states to enforce SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents.
- Tightening citizenship and identity verification standards for benefit eligibility.
Rollins cited a Government Accountability Office finding of $10.5 billion in improper SNAP payments were made in fiscal year 2023, blaming “state-level failures to verify identity and citizenship.”
“I think that a wholesale review of all these programs is necessary,” she said.
Ag Labor Challenges and ICE Raids
Rollins discussed the impact the administration’s immigration strategy is having on the ag workforce, as ICE raids occur in dairies and meat plants.She says Labor and Homeland Security are working together on the issue.
“To ensure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that these farmers and ranchers have the labor that they need.So the President is hyper focused on that understanding the challenges currently at hand but please note we are in daily contact about how to solve for that quickly,” she explained.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and New World Screwworm Eradication
Rollins spotlighted USDA’s prioritization and action on animal health issues such as eradicating highly pathogenic avian influenza, plus their New World Screwworm program and assured the committee they weren’t done.
“We’re really close, I’ll be making a major announcement next week on the very next step which will probably be even more aggressive than anyone in history on the New World Screwworm and I think that you and everyone on this committee will be very pleased.”
Trade Achievements
Rollins emphasized trade achievements made since January, criticizing the Biden administration for “four years of inaction” that she argued led to a deteriorated agricultural trade balance.
She cited among the highlighted gains:
- A new U.S./UK trade agreement to expand agricultural exports and reduce non-tariff barriers.
- Market access breakthroughs in Costa Rica, Panama, South Africa and India — USDA-led trade missions to Thailand and Guatemala, and six global trade shows with $282 million in projected exports.
She also announced upcoming trips to India, Vietnam, Japan, Peru and Brazil before Sept. 30 to continue advancing President Trump’s trade priorities.
Disaster Relief for Farmers and Ranchers
Plus, Rollins reviewed USDA’s emergency relief work, including:
- $10 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) payments, which began being issued in March.
- $20 billion in ongoing disaster aid, including $340 million through the Rural Development Disaster Assistance Fund.
- Automatic 2023–2024 livestock drought relief payments tied to Livestock Forage Disaster Program eligibility.
