During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked USDA Deputy Secretary, Stephen Vaden, if the department discussed its proposal with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
00:00Thank you. It is apparent that USDA did not consult with or even bother to notify Congress with this plan.
00:10And I'd like to know, did you consult with the American Farm Bureau before releasing this plan, the organization that represents so many of our farmers and ranchers?
00:20Senator, the Secretary's memorandum was the first step, not the final step.
00:24So you did not, is that the answer? Could you just answer yes or no? Did you consult with the Farm Bureau before releasing this?
00:32The consultation process has just begun.
00:34You did not, for the record. Did you consult with the Farmers Union, the National Farmers Union, before releasing this plan? Yes or no?
00:44No, because the consultation process has just begun.
00:47Did you consult with or submit this plan to the Office of Management and Budget before this?
00:53A plan was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, and they are aware of our current plan.
00:591,600 employees have left USDA's research agencies. USDA fired many researchers, including those working on avian flu, only to later backtrack.
01:12USDA is extremely delayed in setting out funding for competitive research programs this year, as so many of my colleagues know.
01:22To me, these actions completely undermine agriculture research, just as we're seeing more and more animal diseases that are used against us in trade arrangements that hurt our producers.
01:36Senator Smith and I have seen the horrific effects of avian flu.
01:40Secretary Vaden, USDA's reorganization plan would vacate USDA research labs and eliminate or consolidate offices for the Ag Research Service, the Agricultural Statistics Service.
01:53Do you believe that vacating research sites, eliminating offices, and losing researchers will improve outcomes for farmers who depend on this research?
02:03Senator.
02:04Senator, 91 of 94 ARS research labs are unaffected by the Secretary's memorandum.
02:10Further, the Secretary's memorandum states in its plain text that what will go on in Beltsville will take place over a period of years and in a way that does not interfere with any ongoing research.
02:22And with regard to where researchers are, I think it's important to note, as you have referenced ERS and NIFA multiple times, that during the prior administration, nearly all of the hiring that took place in those agencies was done virtually.
02:39Which is to say, the employees that were hired reported to no office other than their own kitchen.
02:45And some of them who did have offices in the National Capital Region, not only never reported to those offices, but moved hundreds of miles away.
02:55Mr. Vaden, I know you will be surprised at this, but I am not interested in re-litigating the pandemic right now, which spanned two administrations.
03:03The Trump administration, part one, and the Biden administration.
03:08What I want to talk about is now.
03:10Do you think that these actions are actually going to make us more competitive when it comes to ag, more competitive when we are dealing with research issues across the world?
03:19And how will you ensure that critical research projects will not suffer?
03:23Absolutely, I do, because on a government salary, government employees cannot afford to start a quality life in Washington, D.C.
03:30But they most certainly can in Indianapolis, Indiana.
03:33Mr. Vaden, USDA's reorganization plan calls for closing every one of the existing food and nutrition service offices, both the headquarters and regional offices, and relocating those employees as well.
03:49As you know, these programs are food and nutrition assistance, which took a major hit in this recent budget bill, except for the states that have the highest error rate.
04:01It serves tens of millions of customers every year, including over 40 million SNAP recipients.
04:08The FNS has a huge task ahead, implementing the bill with these SNAP cuts.
04:15Huge transformation that we have decided to embark on.
04:19How can, not we, you, how can USDA possibly ensure the integrity of the billions of dollars it is responsible for overseeing with this change and closing down all the offices?
04:31Can you provide the committee with a breakdown of staff losses by function?
04:36And given our shared interest in the program integrity, I'd like to know how many staff who have left positions related to financial management program integrity or management review of nutrition programs?
04:48Senator.
04:49Could you answer that?
04:50Two points in response to that.
04:51Number one, I'd be happy to get you those numbers.
04:53But your supposition that all food and nutrition service employees will be leaving the National Capital Region is incorrect.
05:00Every agency and every mission area under the Secretary's plan will have representation and officials in Washington, D.C.
05:08And as I know you know well, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is primarily administered by the states.
05:14And so what USDA's role is is to ensure the states are properly administering the program.
05:20It makes sense to move the employees whose job it is to oversee the states into these states that they are overseeing rather than keeping them in Washington, D.C.
05:31I've just had a different experience in my own state office, in my own work.
05:35I think like when the work of our office is constituent services, you know, I have one person in each of the areas.
05:42But I have kept people together that have to interact to make decisions and do hard work together and figure out when the constituents call.
05:50And we have a number of them with veterans concerns or a number of them with adoption concerns.
05:54Having that kind of interaction and having that kind of expertise in one space, which in the case of USDA, already 90 percent of their workforce, as we both agreed on, is dispersed.
06:06But one thing we haven't discussed, given the raging forest fires we've seen recently, given the details included in the USDA's reorganization plan.
06:16And as you know, your budget proposed, the President's budget proposed, moving wildland fire operations out of the U.S. Forest Service to a new federal wildland firefighting agency housed in Interior.
06:28There is also reporting that the administration is considering moving parts of the USDA's Rural Development Agency to the Small Business Administration.
06:36Is the USDA still considering moving parts of the Forest Service and Rural Development to other cabinet agencies?
06:43When you're looking at only 10 percent of the workforce already in one place, and you want to half that, and then you want to move away all the wildfire?
06:51Are you trying to decimate this agency, Mr. Baden?
06:54Are you trying to do what they're doing to the Department of Education?
06:57That's a question I want answered.
06:59What about the Forest Service? Are you still pursuing getting rid of that as well?
07:03Senator, the President's budget proposal is before this body. It speaks for itself.
07:08It calls for the centralization of all federal wildfire fighting capabilities.
07:13That is a proposal that predates this administration, and I think it's one that should be taken seriously.
07:18As it goes to the Forest Service, I want to make certain to state for the record that the Secretary's memorandum, again in its plain text,
07:26specifically notes that the Forest Service's fire safety lab will not be moving and is protected in this reorganization.
07:34Okay, last question. Why did you tell people to resign and fire them and then try to rehire them?
07:42Senator, we don't have the money in our budget to pay for all of the employees that were hired in the prior administration.
07:50Former Secretary Vilsack, in comments to AgriPulse, admitted as much just last week.
07:56So you're saying that you thought it was a good idea to fire them and then try to rehire them, the same people, for the same positions,
08:03and you lost a whole bunch of them, veterinarians and researchers.
08:06So you think that was a smart way to handle it?
08:08Senator, no fire workers were terminated as a result of the DRP.
08:11All right, I'm done.
08:13No fire.
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